President Akufo-Addo has revealed the government’s intention to elevate the National Service Scheme (NSS) into a fully-fledged Authority.
This move is aimed at providing the NSS with the necessary legal framework to implement its new model, Deployment for Employment (D4E).
The President made the announcement during the launch of the 50th anniversary Golden Jubilee of the National Service Scheme (NSS) under the theme “NSS at 50: Repositioning the Scheme for Sustainable National Development” in Accra yesterday.
President Akufo-Addo explained that repositioning the NSS as an Authority would empower it to assist young graduates in acquiring valuable experience and making a positive contribution to the nation’s development.
As it stands presently, the NSS has the mandate to deploy a pool of skilled manpower, mainly comprising graduates from tertiary institutions, to contribute to the development initiatives of both the public and private sectors in Ghana.
Established in 1973, the National Service Scheme is a program initiated by the Government of Ghana, operating under the Ministry of Education. It has a National Secretariat located in Accra and regional and district offices across all administrative regions in the country.
While the NSS is considered a civic duty for all Ghanaian citizens aged 18 and above, the current practice mandates it for Ghanaians who have completed their tertiary education and are at least 18 years old.
The original purpose of deploying recent graduates through the National Service Scheme (NSS) was to guarantee that vital sectors of the national economy always had an adequate supply of the necessary human resources essential for development.
The current structure of the scheme offers newly qualified graduates the chance to gain practical work experience in both public and private sectors, fulfilling their civic duty to the state.
The NSS also serves as a means for user agencies to meet their staffing requirements. It additionally allows communities, which might otherwise struggle to access mainstream development projects, to benefit from improved social services through community service activities provided by NSS personnel.
The core objectives of the NSS are to promote a sense of national service among all sectors of Ghanaian society, with the goal of contributing actively to the nation’s development and the process of nation-building.
Additionally, the NSS aims to initiate projects geared towards addressing issues such as hunger, illiteracy, disease, and unemployment in Ghana. It also strives to facilitate the provision of vital services and amenities, particularly in towns and villages in the rural regions of the country.
