Scrapping Trainee Nurses’ Allowances: What Could Be Worse?

As part of the government’s austerity tactics to heal the economy of Ghana by arresting the fiscal deficit situation, expenditure on various remunerations have either been scrapped or slashed including the allowances of teacher trainees in the various teacher training colleges in the country.

In what others described then as a wise way of helping government sail through a difficult period of great fiscal imbalance in the economy as a result of the implementation of a much touted Single Spine Salary Structure and indiscriminate election campaign expenditure, the Ministry of Education decided to scrap the long existing allowance scheme for trainees in the various teacher training colleges in the country. One of the reasons adduced for this move was the idea to expand access. Following from this initiative by the Ministry of Education was a suggestion by the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Koku Awunor Williams to the effect that the Ministry of Health follows in the example of the Education Ministry by scrapping the allowance scheme of trainee nurses in the health training schools and colleges.

From the Ministry of Education’s initiative and the Upper East Regional Director’s suggestion, one can easily identify key questions that suggest clearly that there has not been any genuine need or reason for a scrap of the manner we are experiencing and/or expecting to experience.

First of all, the Ministry of Education gave the reason for the scrap as to enable an expansion in intake, meanwhile no arrangements in infrastructure has been made prior to this announcement. What it means is that the Ministry has considered the financial part of the burden which will result from an increase in intake without considering the infrastructural facilities side of the same equation. In this case, it will result in a situation of students scrambling for space in the dormitories and classrooms while government feels comfortable not to spend on any allowances.

Secondly, if the financial burden is the main problem preventing an expansion in intake, why didn’t the Ministry consider reducing the amount in the allowance per student or even reverting back to the initial scheme prior to the Single Spine Salary Structure.

Thirdly, the suggestion of the Upper East Regional Director for the Ministry of Health to follow in a similar fashion is misplaced because as the Ministry of Education cites an opportunity to increase intake as the reason for the scrap, Koku Awunor Williams is citing an opportunity to release financial pressure on government as the reason for his suggestion.

Additionally, even if the Ministry of Health intends to follow in the example of the Education Ministry, it must be remembered that the teacher training colleges are well on a transition to tertiary status and as such, it is quiet legitimate to scrap their allowance scheme to put them at par with other tertiary institutions in the country, but the same cannot be said of the health training schools and colleges some of which are even rolling out certificate courses.

Finally, the curricular of the two sectors are different such that health trainees embark on routine practical courses popularly known as “clinicals” at locations that require them to rent accommodation and feed themselves. This expenditure cannot be compared to the one time “out program” of the teacher trainees in their final year.

However, whatever the case might be, there are hidden difficulties and challenges currently heating up trainee nurses which are not in public notice and might as well need genuine consideration if the theory of cost cutting must be understood by all. This is with regards to the heavy fees and levies that students in health training schools and colleges pay each semester throughout the country. Apart from the fact that all trainees pay for the cost of feeding, other costs including hostel fees, computer levy, water and electricity, and a host of others are not of value to the trainees. This is because not all trainees reside in hostels resourced by the health training schools and as such, paying for electricity, water and rent may just be unfair for those who have their own private accommodation but are still bound to the same fees. If the cost cutting theory will succeed and must be understood by all, it shouldn’t be one sided such that the burden of government is considered to the detriment of students and their parents. It is even more curious to know that water supply to most of these trainees is almost if not completely absent.

The question one will like answers for is as to whether the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service ever took his time to audit the fees structure of health trainees in the country. Apart from the fact that they pay the highest fees in Ghana than any undergraduate student in the whole country, they are made to do routine practical training at locations outside their schools demanding additional costs in accommodation and feeding.

Apart from that, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service has not taken his time to find out the reasons why the allowance scheme has been so designed for trainee nurses but is quick to jump to the political economics of the government which is miles away from his duties as an employee in the Ghana Health Service.

Following from the above, one will come to terms with the statement that a lot more could be worse for the trainee nurses than the scrapping of their allowances.

Rather than shifting the attention of the public to something that may well be a policy gamble for the Health Ministry, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service together with his colleagues in the nine other regions should sit up and properly audit the fees paid by trainee nurses to ensure that poor students as they are, are not continuously made to pay for facilities that they are not enjoying. After all, reducing cost of education is another way of promoting access.

In the long term, the Ministry of Health should set up an independent regulatory body to regulate admissions into health training schools and colleges in the country as well as the fees and levies charged by them. This is because the issue of corruption in that regard is no secret to anybody who has indeed sought admission into such places before. The fact that their fees and levies are far above the line is not in dispute also.

Whatever happens, it should be noted that the Ghana Health Service is a sector in real need of field workers in the various health facilities around the country. This is in view of the urgent need to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals in the areas of child mortality and maternal health and also to raise the Human Development Index of the country. In this regard, all incentives must remain stuck on the table and new ones introduced to ensure that not only more people are encouraged to dedicate their lives to the health provision of the country but to make sure that the current staff strength is maintained. This will include even increasing the amount trainee nurses receive in allowances since no amount of money saved from scrapping such allowances can be more beneficial to the country than the services of these prospective health workers.

Therefore, the Health Ministry should quicken to provide the needed clarification and assurance as to its position on the matter as suggested by the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service. This will put the minds of the trainee nurses to rest so they can concentrate on their academic work as it is true that most of them are currently not at ease with the current state of suspense following the regional director’s suggestion and the delay in payment of their accumulated allowances.

Also, it is sad to know that organized student leadership of the health training schools and colleges throughout the country has remained dormant rather than demanding their fair share of information on the matter from the authorities concerned.

The sad spectacle that greets the nation each time doctors or nurses embark on strike actions should remind us that we cannot afford to live tomorrow without nurses and other health workers. The Ministry of Health should sit up to ensure that the actions of the Ghana Health Service do not hold the country to ransom in the future as they are often not in the larger interest of their members on the field. Our health is our tomorrow, and our trainee nurses are our license to a truly healthy tomorrow. God bless Ghana.

By David Azuliya

Mobile: 0505005012

Email: [email protected]