Following the release of postings for the 2014/2015 service year by the National Service Scheme,personnel have had to follow through their respective registration processes as soon as they possibly could,and the earlier the registration was expedited,the better.
Contextual Brief
Some 71,189 personnel,spread across the country have been deployed to undertake National Service duties for this year,with the education sector particularly chief among priority areas with the most numbers,to shore things up in the fields of teaching and learning.
The National Service Scheme according to Alhaji Alhassan Imoro,its Executive Director,has committed well over 35,000 personnel to boost the quality of education across the country,while the others have been spread across the health,agriculture,local government,co-operatives and security sectors.
While the Greater Accra Region has the largest intake in regional postings with some 22,824 personnel,13,537 have been deployed to the Ashanti Region,a further 5,993 have been give postings to the Brong Ahafo Region.
Also,the Volta Region received a total intake of 3,837,Northern Region,5,256 personnel,Eastern Region had 5,611,Western Region,4,590,Upper East Region 2,264,Upper West Region,2,662 and finally,the Central Region had 4,615 personnel deployed to render their one year service to the nation in diverse fields (Banking,Research,Science,Energy,Journalism among other things).
Before these postings were finally effected and released however,there was a long wait!
Long,Anxious And Dithery Wait
They waited anxiously and sometimes with impetuosity after May/June,for the National Service Scheme to effect and release postings for the 2014/2015 year of the mandatory year-long service to the nation.
Various times,by the help of social media,information,(many of which turned out as hoaxes),were bandied about as having been sent from the National Service Scheme,sanctioning the release of postings and subsequent post-placement registration procedures.
Time lagged,Graduates waited,until September 1,2014,when a facebook communication from the National Service Scheme,announced the release of postings for personnel.
As was expected,the impatience of personnel had boiled into angst,the comments that followed the announcement on the National Service Scheme's Facebook page were manifest,and predictably on the day the postings were made accessible,the traffic on the Scheme’s website was “mad”.
From the National Communication Authority,to Islamic Education Project,through to the Volta River Authority,to Biriwa Municipal Primary etc,;personnel were posted to undertake the service.
Scanty Information;Poorly Communicated
If anyone thought the anxious wait and its attendant cloud of uncertainty was over the moment postings were released,perhaps that fellow may want to do a rethink.
What was to be a real HELL of a time,loomed!
On the Facebook Page of the National Service Scheme read on Monday,September 1,2014
“It is announced for the information of all National Service Personnel and the general public that the postings for the 2014/2015 service year have been released.Service personnel should check and print their posting letters from Tuesday 2nd Septembe3r at 18:00 GMT and beyond.Registration at all centres starts from Wednesday 3rd September 2014; a communication signed by the Director,Public Relations ,Ambrose Entsiwah Jnr,National Service Scheme,Headquarters.
*Admittedly,social media has come to stay,and the earlier we get the awakening,the better for everyone,but I dare say,not all graduates in Ghana today are subscribed to social media and its multiple platforms
*Predictably,not many people got this piece of information and as it turned out,registration never started on the said date,Wednesday,3rd September,2014
*Instead,the National Service Scheme conviniently held an orientation of sorts at its regional office in Accra for personnel,posted to public instututions,quasi government organisations and agencies in the Greater Accra Region.
*The said orientation was to spell out how the registration procedures were to be followed;word never reached personnel on this score,hence the turnout was low.
Why organize an orientation when the very people who should feed off the information are not informed of any such activity?
Registration Procedure;Enigmatic,Time-Wasting And Cumbersome
Day 1
As we love to do in this part of the world,the registration procedure was to be strenuous and fraught with all manner of things.Even those who were fortunate to be at the Orientation could not seem to get around the whole activity,thoughtless of those who missed the Orientation,
Esther and Herty both graduates of the Ghana Institute of Journalism were posted to the Ghana Armed Forces headquarters here in Accra,and had their registration center in far away at Tema Community 2.
By 09:30 a.m on Monday,September 8,2014,they were at the centre only to be greeted with incredibly long winding queues.It was sunny;it was dusty and over a thousand personnel had clustered to commence the procedure.There were the informed,the ignorant and the clueless,all stuck up in one area,breaking sweat to get their way around the processes.
It was not unitl about 5:30p.m they had their turn.Eight long hours,in a queue which never really moved on.Reasons?
A visibly distraught Esther would not mince words at all,
“Registration officials from the National service secretariat by virtue of the manual system being used,were dead slow.They have been literally handwriting our particulars into a certain notebook.You can imagine only two people attending to all of us,not only annoying but crazy.
At times when others cut corners,officials looked on powerless and this further delayed activities here,I have been standing here all day,I’m even broken,”she added.
 |
| long queues were a regular feature at registration centres |
Herty could not agree more. She had also endured one gruelling ordeal,which she says will forever be with her,
“It’s the first time I have had to go through a thing like this.While I thought I could complete this within an hour and head back home,it was not to be.I am still trying to come to terms with exactly what is hindering the national service secretariat from adopting an online system to facilitate this,instead of this time-wasting venture.”
While perhaps,you could say Esther and Herty were unfortunately fortunate,same cannot be said of Alan,a graduate of the the University of Ghana,Legon.Just when it was his turn,officials signaled a close to the day’s session.After staying all of six hours in the queue!
.JPG) |
| officials were writing the particulars of personnel by hand |
He said,"I am disgusted at the whole system.What did I achieve all day here,nothing.I wasted money,time and energy.Traveling from Adenta tomorrow to this place again will be a tall order,there is absolutely no motivation to return here.Sadly,this is Ghana and things will never change."
He had to return the next day to have his turn,a whole day completely wasted,a trip back to Tema from Adenta on Tuesday was one he wanted to avoid,but it was inevitable.
The guys did not hesitate to give the National Service Scheme Officials a telling off when they felt the pace of the exercise was snail-pacing.
At the regional office of the National Service Scheme in Accra,the situation was not different.
Regular features:Long queues,hnadwriting of individual particulars into a book,and slow pace of the processes.
Patience,a graduate from the Ghana Institute of Journalism was horrified by all that had happened on the day.
“It is baffling,really,that in this day and age,we still live and do things like our people did during the stone-age.How much would it possibly cost to have a process like this done online?”,she roared.
Remember,that was only stage one of the registration procedure.The submitted appointment letters were to be endorsed and collected,then sent to the institutions where personnel were posted.While some individuals at certain centers were asked to return the next day,Tuesday, September 9,2014 to pick up their appointment letters duly endorsed by the regional director,others had to come on Wednesday,September,10.
Day 2
Back at Tema as early as 8:00 a.m on Wednesday,personnel asked to report for their endorsed letters had coverged at the registration center.
Apparently the letters had not arrived at the center around the time,and no official was on hand to relay this simple information.
Belatedly,and around 10:00 a.m,they finally arrived and close to a thousand personnel clustered in front of the secretariat to received their letters upon the first mention by one of the officials.
Slowly,one after another,the names were called out and those present got their letters.
Esther and Herty have been posted to the same place,they proceeded to the Ghana Armed Forces (Burma Camp),to continue the registration.
Low and behold,another queue!Unsurprising!
Officers handling the process had threatened to close for the day, it was past 02:00 pm.The persistence of the numbers,compelled them to extend the period.
One after another,personnel got their letters endorsed and filled their particulars,again into a notebook.
OH!They had to make duplicate copies of the original endorsed letters and submit one to the officers at the Burma Camp,and then another plus the original copy,to the district National Service Office at Tradefair.They were only just hearing this for the first time.
Before they could say jack!offficials called it a day;meaning,effectively that they would have to return the next day to submit the duplicate copy,before heading for the District Office.
Another long day,as hectic as the first,came to an end.
“So I would come here tomorrow just to submit a duplicate of the letters? Esther wondered.
Patience on the other hand,had seen her process through in Accra.She would not hide her bitterness:
“The strategy for distributing the letters was terrible.It was very difficult to even hear your name amidst all the noise being generated by trotting foots,and conversations among personnel.One would have thought perhaps,that a microphone would be used,but again in these parts you don’t see some of these stopgaps.”
“In the end someway,somehow,I heard my name,and I’m headed for the Accra Metropolitan Assembly,where I have been posted,I anticipate an even slower process there”
Day 3
Thursday,September 11,2014,was another day.From Santa Maria and Sowutuom,Herty and Esther made for the Burma Camp to submit the letter they missed out on doing the day before.And then to the District Office at Tradefair,to complete the entire registration process!
By 01:00 p.m,they were finally done.
What an incredible three days it has been;most parts irritating and tortuous!
What Could Have Been An Easier And Cost Effective Alternative?
The body language of the personnel spoke volumes.They spoke even louder.In spurts and groups,they lamented,they castigated and bashed the National Service Scheme for putting them through what they described as physical torture.
The sentiments were unanimous.Since Day 1,everybody wondered why this process could not have been possible via the internet,and that position did not change.
Why make us come as far as Tema to have our registrations done when we were posted to agencies in Accra?
Why make us come all the way to this place to form limitless queues for two days before we had our turn when we could have sat in the comfort of our homes,to provide the information we came to deliver here?
Why make us go and come two days after registering,for the endorsed letters,when we could have saved money and easily got this done online?
Why make us,upon being to the various institutions we were posted,go again to the district office to submit copies of the appointment letters,when again,systems could have been adopted to cut all these manual bottlenecks?
The consensus was loud!Everyone opined that things could have been fast-tracked and made a tud easier,by getting all the manual work automated.
Judging from these past three or so days one could only wonder if come the actual National Service,personnel would experience a better or worse nine months or less.
One thing is for sure!Like the millions of ghanaians fed up with many of the state institutions and agencies,the National Service Scheme should be in the bad books of personnel,at least for now,even before they commence the service proper!
No comments:
Post a Comment