The Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Osei Assibey Antwi, has urged new personnel to accept their placements and work harder to improve their organisations to enhance the total development of the country.
He indicated that since the national service was service to the nation, it behoves them to exhibit their sense of patriotism and commitment to the socio-economic development of the country.
Speaking to the media after the release of the postings of the 2022/2023 personnel, Mr Antwi said that aside from contributing to the national development growth, the postings also offered them the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge acquired in school and obtain hands-on experience.
Patriotism
The Executive Director also reiterated that national service was a mandatory requirement for anyone who had tertiary education and must be fulfilled with the patriotism it deserved.
Mr Antwi warned that those who evade the process will not be eligible to work in public institutions in the country, explaining that it was a legal requirement under the GNSS Act 426 of 1980.
User agencies feedback
Touching on feedback from user agencies, he said the NSS’s first-ever nationwide visitation exercise had enabled the management to elicit information on the experiences of service persons and the key stakeholders to inform the deployment of personnel for the 2022/2023 service year.
“Per the Scheme’s vision and investment opportunities, the visit had also allowed the NSS management to highlight the numerous initiatives being undertaken to enhance the welfare and employability of service persons under the Scheme’s new mission of ‘Deployment for Employment’,” he said.
Mr Antwi said the NSS was scaling up its income-generation activities to augment the financial support given to it by the government.
“Many national service schemes across the world have failed due to over-dependence on the central government, and we don’t want that to happen here,” he said.
“In the wake of the global economic crisis, there was the need for the NSS to reposition itself to meet the employment expectations of graduates,” he added.
Skills development
Underscoring the significance of skills development, Mr Antwi stated: “We have moved the scheme from its traditional mission of ‘mobilisation for deployment’ to ‘deployment for employment’ to meet the needs of the contemporary graduate”.
Within that context, he urged the various user agencies to dedicate some of their resources to training service persons towards building their skills for the job market.
He advised the service personnel to use the service period as an opportunity to sharpen their skills to make them viable in the job market.
Mr Antwi said the service period provided a unique year-long opportunity for the personnel to learn proper corporate governance practices, which are the major skills required by most organisations in the country.
“In this day, where finding jobs has become a difficult task, I urge you to take your work seriously when you begin your service.
Use this period to improve your competencies; learn how to start and manage your businesses, so you don’t find yourself wanting after service,” he said.
He advised them to be disciplined, courteous, hardworking, and exhibit a high sense of professionalism wherever they would find themselves and ensure that “their actions conform to the laws of this country.”
