‘Free SHS’ graduates to be recruited as nurse assistants

5,000 beneficiaries of the Free SHS program by the end of August 2022 will be recruited as nurse assistants on various Community Health Based Planning Service (CHPS) compounds across the country, the Jubilee House has announced.

“YEA will recruit 5,000 SHS graduates by end of August to help nurses on CHPS compounds. The TVET Service will get the experts to train them and will deploy them,” the House stated in a social media post sighted by AcademicWeek.

The Deputy Director of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) speaking to Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the graduates will help nurses with services including recording medical history and symptoms, conducting physical examinations and providing simple besides care to patients.

“5,000 people would also be trained as carpenters, electricians, welders and construction workers and be provided with a platform to connect to individuals and businesses,” Alhaji Bashiru told the Accra-based News Agency.

He said the Agency is collaborating with the Ghana Health Service within the Community Health Worker programme to train the selected graduates and deploy them to Community Health Based Planning Service (CHPS) compounds.

“The CHP compounds are usually located in our rural communities, so they will be there to help the regular nurses with the record keeping and basic things that would help the nurses to be able to do their work,” Alhaji Bashiru told GNA.

To ensure that qualified Free SHS graduates are recruited, Alhaji said the Employment Agency (YEA) would work hand in hand with the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to ensure beneficiaries have no criminal records.

In other news, the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum has said 1.39 million students will benefit from the Free Senior High School and Technical Vocational and Education Training (Free SHS/TVET) in 2022 academic year.

In an interview with Kumasi-based Nhyira FM monitored by AcademicWeek, he said the inclusion of TVET in the Free SHS program forms part of the government effort to ensure more students become beneficiaries of the flagship policy.

“A total of 1.39 million students are expected to benefit from the Free Senior High School and Technical Vocational and Education Training (Free SHS/TVET) in the 2022 academic year when the school placements are out,” Osei Yaw noted.

Adutwum told the Akan radio station President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government has built more infrastructures in some Technical Schools to promote Technical and Vocational Education adding that the 2022 budget will add more.