Just imagine going through years of paying exorbitant fees for a private tertiary education simply because there aren't enough public institutions to absorb graduates? Funny enough these high fees are mainly as a result of affiliation fees and other costs required by the government for private institutions to operate.

 

To top up this unfair behavior, nurses with a private tertiary  educational background are being blatantly denied their right to equal employment. 

 

We PUSAG, GAHTI and COUPN have branded the government of the day, an "anti-private institutions government". We stay on our ground and say a big NO to AntiPrivateTreatment.

 

Join the movement NOW! And save vulnerable nurses and products of private educational institutions.

 

 Below is the full petition statement to the President of the Republic of Ghana

 

From:

Private Universities Students’ Association of Ghana (PUSAG)

                            and

Ghana Association of Health Training Institutions (GAHTI)

 

  

 

16th May, 2016

The Office of the President

Flagstaff House

Accra-Ghana

 

Dear His Excellency,

RE: ABOLISH THE PRIORITY SCHEME AND EMPLOY PRIVATE TRAINED NURSES ON MERIT

We are writing this letter to your highly esteemed and respected office to bring to your attention the gross discrimination and unfair treatment of private tertiary education and its products. We would like to appeal the priority given to employing public trained nurses.

 

The unsavoury response made concerning why graduate nurses haven't been absorbed into the job market is an unfair decision based on which PUSAG, GAHTI and COUPN have branded the government of the day, an "anti-private institutions government". The instructions given to the Ministry of Health from your office to this effect is very disheartening and prejudice. Although the argument made is the fact that public nurses are bonded, we strongly believe that employment is purely a matter of competence and not whose education is supported financially by the government because the taxpayers (private and public) monies are used in subsiding fees, paying allowances and other government oriented benefits. 

 

We would like to also put on record that irrespective of graduate nurse's  institution, the same indexing is received from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana(NMC). Private trained nurses also write the same licensing examination and receive results from NMC. Finally, certificates and pins are given by the same regulatory body. 

 

Surprisingly, your administration has once again confirmed that it solely seeks the interest of students graduating from public institutions while the case of private institution students is irrelevant. The government has made it clear that it will continue to give priority to students from public institutions since they are bonded and to us this is discriminatory, a clear example of injustice. We want to unequivocally state that private tertiary education has come to stay and for that matter allocations to absorb graduates from this system should be on the priority list of the government and all governments for that matter.

 

Why do you give accreditation to private institutions to run nursing programmes when you know you won't accept its graduates? Is the government a government for public tertiary institutions or it is for the Ghanaian student who see the value of education and the contributions it can make to national development?  What are the differences between these two students?

 

The National Accreditation Board (NAB) certifies these private institutions to run these programmes while mostly affiliated to autonomous state institutions and regularly direct their activities. It is perceived that these public institutions have needed framework to ensure that the right standards are met by these private institutions. Let's not forget that these public mentoring institutions would not clear any student who does not meet the entry requirements and the preliminary standard to graduate. Hence,  we ask the question once again, why would a government for the people create a gap between these two students? Remember affiliation comes with a huge cost added to student fees which we are gladly obliged to pay.

 

In response to the statement issued by the PRO of the Ministry of Health, we say it is totally derogatory. The government should quickly reverse the decision because it is insensitive and inconsiderate. We believe that competence is key in granting opportunities to graduates and alma maters should be a case of the Stone Age.

 

Basically, the assumption of the policy’s inability to cover private nurses is to allow private hospitals to absorb them. Since when did government unintelligently decided to break the country into one where public institutions are for public graduates and private institutions are for private graduates? If this is the case, then the new hospitals and clinics government claims to be constructing would be occupied by public trained personnel.

 

Government should bow its head in shame and woefully apologize to these vulnerable private student nurses and reconsider the shallow decisions made which only divides this great nation and constantly hurt private universities and institutions. We are requesting that all persons should be given the fair playing grounds and competence should rule. Its apparent that Ghana’s nurse-patient ratio of 1:20 is way above the globally accepted nurse-patient ratio of 1:4 by the World Health Organization (WHO). This calls for the need to channel more funds into the Health sector to save most of us who are vulnerable.

 

Thank you for your attention to this matter and we are looking forward to hearing from you soon. The over 70000 private institution students, graduates and products have also agreed on an unfavorable approach to share our grievances to all Ghanaian in the event of not hearing from your outfit.

 

Sincerely,

Richard Odame

National President, Private Universities Students’ Association of Ghana (PUSAG)

+233(0)243944302

 

Francis Kwabena Asante

Media Relations Director, Private Universities Students’ Association of Ghana (PUSAG)

+233(0)242677779

 

Obed Asare Bediako

Greater Accra Zone President, Ghana Association of Health Training Institutions (GAHTI)

+233(0)246247253

 

Cc: Ministry of Health

      Ministry of Education

      Ministry of Labor and Employment Relations

      Parliamentary Select Committee on Education

      Parliamentary Select Committee on Health

      National Accreditation Board(NAB)

      Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana

      Ghana Health Service

      Peace Council

      Ghana Christian Council

      Council of Independent Universities

      Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association

      Student Representative Councils, Member Institutions

      Media Houses