Beginning from this year, national service personnel would be expected to check their postings online on the onset of the service period, announces Minister for Education, Science and Sports, Papa Owusu-Ankomah.

The website address for the postings is www.nssghana.org.

Speaking at a Meet-the-Press in Accra, Papa Owusu-Ankomah said the National Service Scheme introduced the online posting-checker system to ensure that registration and posting of prospective service personnel was made easier, faster, more accurate and more convenient.

He said until the Ghana Education Service (GES) had the full complement of trained teachers, the Ministry would continue to engage the services of service personnel in teaching in the rural and deprived areas of Ghana.

He said: "The number of service personnel deployed to teach in Basic and Senior Secondary Schools this year is 15,000 representing 60 per cent of the total enlistment."

Papa Owusu-Ankomah estimated that about 35,000 graduates would be posted during the 2007/08 service period compared to 31,000 service personnel posted in 2006/07 service period.

The National Service Scheme, he said, continued to play a crucial role in augmenting the manpower requirements of the country particularly in the public and civil service.

For that reason, Papa Owusu-Ankomah said, the Ministry was reviewing the current law that established the scheme to make it more empowering and proactive to diversity and enrich its functions in line with revised vision, mission and objectives.

"The Law, when successfully reviewed will inspire youth in the country to go into private business," he said.

Papa Owusu-Ankomah said National Service Scheme was also collaborating with the British Voluntary Service Organisation for the establishment of volunteerism as a new dimension to the service in Ghana.

He said: "Currently the Scheme has posted 8,551 volunteers made of retired teachers and post-national service personnel to Primary and Junior Secondary Schools and some selected Senior Secondary Schools country-wide."

He said the National Service Scheme, with the view to further deepen the concept of volunteerism, intended to build a complex hostel and training centre for the management and development of volunteerism and training of volunteers.

Source: GNA