WITH the new educational reform, nurses training colleges, just like teacher training colleges, have been upgraded to tertiary educational institutions accredited to award diplomas to graduands.
Against the high trend of nurses and doctors seeking greener pastures in foreign lands, many young high school graduates have been motivated to enrol in nurses training schools throughout the country.
The situation is not well for many of them, especially those from poor homes with great expectations and hoping to rely on government subsidy and scholarships for meals and tuition.
Government subvention to the Ho Nurses Training College has not been regular, putting it in financial distress.
The Principal of the college, Mr James Agboada, who disclosed this at the joint matriculation ceremony of first-year students of the college, expressed concern over the growing trend.
He stated that the college might close down by the end of June if the government did not intervene within the shortest possible time.
According to him, the college owed six private landlords huge sums of money as rent for hostels hired for the students, adding that the landlords had threatened to eject the students if the arrears were not settled.
Mr Agboada said the payment of allowances had been stopped for first and second-year students, despite the fact that they were supposed to take three square meals a day.
The plight of the Ho Nurses Training College has been compounded by inadequate classrooms, the lack of a skills acquisition laboratory and residential accommodation for teachers and students.
The accommodation problem could have been resolved if work on the ongoing hostel project off the Ho-Aflao road had been expedited and completed. Currently, work on the project has come to a standstill.
The college continues to receive a very high number of applicants but it cannot admit all of them due to the challenges facing it.
According to the Deputy Director of the Nurses and Midwifery Council, Mr Felix Nyantey, the curriculum for nurses training colleges was under review.
“However, with these constraints, how can we effectively uphold the higher ideals of the nursing profession by training nurses easily without letting them pass through avoidable obstacles?” he asked.
Mr Nyantey urged the students to be courteous to all manner of people, in accordance with the ethics of the profession.
Mr Nyantey further urged them to dedicate themselves to the training in order to come out successfully.
In an address read on his behalf, the Volta Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Andrew Arde-Acquah, announced that the Ghana Health Service in the region had come up with a scheme on the retention of graduates of nurses training colleges.
He added that they would be bonded for four years to serve in the region, irrespective of where they came from.
Dr Arde-Acquah also stated that there were incentives for those who would accept posting to deprived areas.
The Students Representative Council (SRC) President, Mr Mawuli Goka, pleaded with the authorities not to stop feeding the students, since that would negatively affect them.
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