A group of private university students are petitioning the Education Ministry and Parliament for the National Service Scheme Act, 1980 to be amended to exempt them. The group, calling itself the Coalition of Aggrieved Private University Students argues that it is unfair that students are obliged to do national service when they do not enjoy any government support like their colleagues in public universities. Amos Amorse who spoke for the group, told Joy News the Scheme’s Act enjoins graduates of public tertiary schools to do the service because “government subsidies the fees of public university students” and must therefore serve the nation for the kind of benefit they derive from the government. He further noted that students in private institutions are not enjoying any subsidies from the government and questioned “why should we be treated on the same wave length as those in public universities.” Under paragraphs (a) and (b) of Section (2), Subsection (1) of Act 426, the Scheme shall apply respectively to any person who “is a citizen of Ghana; and has attained the age of eighteen years or more”. “At the time that they were framing that law, they did not take into consideration private university students. They did not take into consideration that there will come a time in this country where the government universities cannot accommodate its growing population,” he posited. But the Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Vincent Kuagbenu is challenging the group’s claims. He told Joy News the private university students cannot claim they never benefited from public funding, noting that “at one time or the other you go through a government institution”. “It is an issue of who you are to your country; which country do you belong to. It is not about who pays your fees. So I don’t see the legitimacy here.” “Unless of course we want to throw away patriotism, we want to say that yes if I pay my fees and I go to a university I am a less Ghanaian than others who go to public university," he stated.