Amissah-Arthur fears future implication of restoring nurses’ allowance

Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur is pointing to a possible bleak future if the allowance for student nurses is reintroduced by government.

Addressing student nurses at the Nalerigu Nursing and Midwifery College in the Northern region, the Vice President doused the burning desire of the prospective nurses the allowance restored.

The over 34,000 nursing students who relied on the allowance have been protesting the decision by government to withdrawn it.

The opposition New Patriotic Party cashed in at the development with its presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo promising to restore the allowance when elected into office.

This might have prompted the government to set up a committee to find an alternative to the allowance.

About a month ago, President John Mahama announced that the technical committee has “recommended that since we are yet to amend the law to put our nursing and midwifery students on the students loan scheme, we should also put them on the allowance.”

But Mr. Amissah-Arthur stressed that government’s priority is to invest in infrastructure for a better life in future.

“We want to invest some of the resources of this country for the future. If I stand here and just say that the ‘alawa’ has been reintroduced, you will be happy and then we will go home but then it will have an implication for the future because it means that the school blocks that we want to build for the growing population, we may not be able to do it.”

The Vice President further stated, “In taking a decision for the future, we have to be careful that we don’t make a mistake. When you make a mistake you can’t go back and correct it.

“You have to do the good thing right now. The point I am making is, we have to make a decision that affects us today, and also improve our ability to survive and do better tomorrow.”