Nursing allowance can’t be restored without a ceremony – Minister

Government has indicated that it will go ahead to celebrate the return of the nurses' trainee allowance policy following its cancellation by the erstwhile administration.

The launch of the restoration of the nurses’ trainee allowance, is set to take place in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region on October 10, will see about 58,000 trainee nurses and midwives receive their monthly allowance after they were scrapped in 2016 by the John Mahama government.

The decision to have an occasion just to symbolize the restoration has been criticized as simply a frivolous move from the government by some sections of the public.

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, defended the launch, asking why the people would expect the government to restore the allowance quietly.

“We are launching [the restoration of the allowance] to demonstrate to Ghanaians that the government has honoured its promise. We don’t want to hide in a room somewhere, pay the allowance and that is the end of it. Ghanaians should know what we are doing,” the Minister of Health stated to the Media after appearing before Parliament.

He stressed that, it was important “to communicate the good works of our President and that is why are we are launching. People are happy; they want to jubilate about it and we want them to jubilate about it.”

The trainee Nurses allowance was initially scrapped to allow the various training colleges to admit more students in a decision which was met with wide condemnation.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) earmarked a students’ loan scheme in place of the allowance.

But the Mahama government had agreed to pay a reduced allowance for the trainees temporarily, until such a time that they are finally moved onto the students’ loan scheme.