The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has advised heads of public and private institutions against "turning National Service Personnel (NSP) into errand boys and girls."

Mr Bagbin said the national service period was a very critical year for the development of the personnel as such, it must not be wasted on the running of errands, which would not add to their development.

"I plead with my brothers and sisters, who are leaders in the various public institutions, private sector organisations not to turn the service personnel into messengers - errand boys and girls...It is a very critical year for their development, do not waste it."

He was speaking at the launch of the Golden Jubilee anniversary of the National Service Secheme (NSS) in Accra on Tuesday.

The anniversary is on the theme: "National Service at 50: Repositioning the Scheme for a Sustainable National Development".

Mr Bagbin said the service period was for the personnel to be molded for the world of work and that it was unfortunate that some workers treated them badly, many not having places to sit in offices.

He said the challenges facing the country required sustainable solutions and that NSS could be an avenue for developing the next generation of leaders, problem solvers and change makers.

Mr Bagbin said there was the need to build the youth and transform them into citizens, who were willing to serve the country and put it first, which called for investment in the operations of the NSS.  

The Executive Director of NSS, Mr Osei Assibey Antwi, said the Scheme was able to deploy more personnel to support the health sector, the education sector and civil service.

He said this year, about 65,000 personnel were sent to classrooms. In the agricultural sector, Mr Assibey Antwi said with the support of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Scheme had been able to acquire 20,000 acres of land for projects.