The Minority in Parliament is fighting off the government’s plan to recruit and deploy senior high school graduates to CHPS compounds across the country.

According to the NDC MPs, the move will not achieve the desired impact.

The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) which seeks to implement the project said the SHS graduates will assist with basic health care delivery, such as recording the medical history of patients at CHPS compounds located in rural communities.

On Thursday, a member of the Health Committee, Dr. Sebastian Sandare, said the graduates do not have the required skills.

“They don’t have any space and they have no room. These are people that have not finished their education. The focus should be that how do we insure that Senior High School graduates have the opportunity to continue their education.

"If we train them just maybe some few weeks, with days of training and say they should go to CHPS zones, they have no role. Even the little they learn, at a point, will leave and go to school.”

According to him, there are professionals who can be recruited to health facilities.

“You have the needed manpower, people with the skills who are rather staying home losing their skills. The nurses we have trained for years, who are staying at home are decaying. And they have been trained. They have used years to train them.”

“They wouldn’t make any impact at the CHPS compounds level. And they might bring some bad behaviors. Many are still teenagers, so why would you be exposing teenagers to all the risks and hazards at the CHPS compound?”

Dr. Sandare has also been taking on the defense of the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye for the programme.

“I listened to the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, and I tend to defend this bad policy saying that the problem of CHPS services at the community level is linkage with the community.

Linkage with the community, if even it’s a problem, then we would have to look at why it’s a problem,” he advised.”

He further said that there are volunteers who link the service delivery to the people.

"Chief Health Officer has community-based volunteers and their role is to link the community with the service delivery.  Because the CHO might not come from the community, or know the community dynamics. So the community have volunteers, chosen by the community themselves… these volunteers have been working for years, volunteering, meaning they are  sacrificing.”

The health expert suggested that the problem is a lack of incentives for the volunteers.

“So the problem I think the Director General is feeling to talk about is that these community-based volunteers at the CHPS zone levels have not been motivated for years. They don’t have the needed logistics to work with. No bicycle, mobile phones, no motorbikes for CHOs, no fuel.”

“These are the problems and therefore, if there is any intervention, then see how you will motivate the already existing community-based volunteers to work”, he charged.

 However, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association described the move as disturbing and opposed the idea.