The University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG-UG) has urged the National Service Scheme (NSS) to concentrate on enhancing the service within the country rather than sending fresh graduates abroad.

In a recent interview with campus-based Radio Univers, NSS Director of Corporate Affairs, Armstrong Essah, revealed that a key component of the Scheme’s 10-year policy, launched on April 15, 2024, in Accra, includes plans for personnel exchanges with countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Nigeria.

However, Dr. Jerry-Joe Harrison, Secretary of UTAG-UG, voiced his concerns in an interview with JoyNews, stressing that the NSS should prioritise local improvements.

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“The major reason to set up the NSS was to give people who have just finished university the opportunity to gain job experience.

"Over the years some of the challenges have been the poor enumeration which is not enough to feed them and provide for accommodation.

"The reluctance you see that everyone wants to be in the city because of accommodation and other related issues.

"Merely changing the scheme by sending people outside is not what is going to help rather focus on improving it in its current form. There are many areas where the service of these people is needed,” he stated.

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Dr Harrison also highlighted the risks of global deployment, warning that it could lead to brain drain and likening it to a form of modern-day slave trade.

“Even if it is going to be implemented in the right way where the right people are sent to these countries, you are inherently sending the best for them to work on them.

"It is not different from the slave trade where our best were sent to these countries under very dehumanising conditions. It is going to be a major contributor to brain drain in the long term also,” he added.