Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian students who graduate from accredited tertiary institutions are required under law to do a one-year

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

to the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

. The National Service Secretariat (NSS) is the

Government of Ghana The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

agency mandated to formulate policies and structures for national service.

Structure of the NSS

The organogram of the service has the Board of the service at the top. The Board supervises the activities of the Executive Director and two Deputy Executive Directors. One deputy is the Head of Finance and Administration and the other is in charge of the service's operations. The Executive Director and the Deputies supervise the activities of the Heads of various Departments. At the regional level, the service is headed by the Regional Director who in turn supervises the work of the various District Directors. The service has Regional Heads in all the ten regional capitals of the country. The service has a staff strength of 342.

Terms of service

All graduates from Ghanaian tertiary institutions must complete a one-year national service. Every year several ten of

thousands 1000 or one thousand is the natural number following 999 and preceding 1001. In most English-speaking countries, it can be written with or without a comma or sometimes a period separating the thousands digit: 1,000. A group of one thousand thi ...

of graduates are posted to various sectors as service personnel. In 2009 - 2010 service year, about 67,000 graduates were posted. In the 2010 - 2011 service year, 50,069 personnel were posted. The service is done irrespective of type of sponsorship the individual may have received or the country in which the tertiary course was pursued in. The personnel upon posting to an establishment is subject to the rules and regulations that govern it. In case where the establishment's rules conflict with that of the NSS, the latter's is used. Again, graduates who are sponsored by certain institutions to offer

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

programmes return to those institutions. All benefits that the service personnel is entitled to shall be frozen till the personnel complete their service.

Allowance

Service personnel are paid

monthly Monthly usually refers to the scheduling of something every month. It may also refer to: * ''The Monthly'' * '' Monthly Magazine'' * ''Monthly Review'' * '' PQ Monthly'' * '' Home Monthly'' * '' Trader Monthly'' * ''Overland Monthly'' * Menstruati ...

allowances. The amount paid is determined by the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

. The allowance that is approved is what the ministry would pay the personnel throughout the service year. Payment is calculated from the date the service personnel reports for duty at his/her designated post.

Annual leave

All personnel are entitled to a month's annual terminal leave for the year that spans their service. The month leave is usually given in August to all personnel.

National Service Certificate

After completion of the mandatory one-year national service, The National Service Secretariat issues a national service certificate to all personnel.

Offenses under the NSS Act

The NSS is governed by Act 426 under which there are the following offenses:

Evasion

Personnel who do not report to their posts after 3 months of being posted are considered to have evaded the service. For such a personnel, appropriate sanctions under Act 426 are applied.

References

External links

National Service Secretariat − Ghana National Service Scheme (NSS)
{{authority control Ministries and Agencies of State of Ghana