We are grateful for restored ‘allawa’ – Nurses

The Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) has thanked government for restoring the scrapped nursing trainee allowances.

In 2014, the government of former president John Mahama cancelled the payment of all allowances, including nursing trainees’.

The scraping of the allowances was met with grave disapproval, assuming a key weapon of the Akufo-Addo 2016 campaign.

Speaking at the launch of the restoration of the policy Tuesday in Sunyani, Brong Ahafo region, the President of COHHETI, Josephine Ansu-Gyeabour extolled the government for upholding its campaign pledge.

“…Clearly, it will ensure that financial hardships on parents or guardians, the students as well as school administrators are considerably reduced,” she said excitedly.

She however urged the government to ensure that the restoration of the allowances cover “all the basic health training institutions” across the country, saying “We believe that you have initiated and you will surely accomplish that which you have begun.”

She expressed the hope that the government will continuously resource the health training institutions to achieve their mandate.

Mrs. Ansu-Gyeabour further used the occasion to admonish the students on the need to take their studies seriously. She told the students that the best way they can express gratitude to the president is to “set high academic and moral objectives for yourselves and work hard to pass all your examinations at the first sitting and come out as a well-trained, qualified and committed health care personnel that Ghana can be proud of.”

On his part, the Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said human resource for health development remains one of the critical action areas for his Ministry and that it has become more paramount due to the country’s resolve to achieve the targets set for the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

“It is therefore good judgment that under the visionary and selfless leadership of President Akufo-Addo, the nurses, midwives trainees allowance which was cancelled in 2014 by the NDC government is being restored by the New Patriotic Party,” he remarked at the restoration launch.

According to him, 58,000 health trainees in all trainee institutions had been budgeted for at GH¢400 per month for 10 months in an academic year.

He further noted that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure sustainability of the payment explaining that an electronic payment mechanism had been laid out for “convenience and accountability.”

Enthused by the restoration of the allowances some of the students praised the president for being truthful saying it will lessen the financial burden on their parents.