National Service Scheme gets Conditions of Service

The National Service Scheme (NSS) has successfully negotiated for a new Conditions of Service.

The Executive Director of the scheme, Mr Mustapha Ussif, who made this known, said the conditions of service was set to be implemented for the benefit of workers.

The Executive Director, who was speaking at the 2019 NSS staff conference in Kumasi on Thursday, commended the staff of the NSS for their constructive efforts during the negotiations on the service document.

Digitising NSS

Speaking on the theme: "Positioning National Service Scheme towards Digital Transformation: The role of Management and the Workforce,” Mr Ussif emphasised the need for staff and management to prepare their minds towards the new ways of doing things to improve the service delivered to the people.

Stressing on the introduction of the new paperless registration system for service personnel, he noted that it had helped in the identification and verification of prospective personnel.

"It can confidently be said that the scheme now has an effective and efficient database that has come to reduce the chaos and long queues at the NSS registration centres predominately in Accra and Ashanti Region", he added.

Certificate delivery system

Mr Ussif said the scheme had also digitised its certificate delivery system to enable personnel who had successfully completed their service to apply for their certificate online, adding that the timely innovation had come to address the challenges of "low collection rate, lack of proper inventory system and has reduced the stress of looking for a certificate in a stock pile".

He said the new certificate came along with many security features such as the QR Code, which allows employers to verify the authenticity of the certificate by scanning the QR Code on them.

The system, he said, was linked to the database of the scheme and would confirm it once the certificate was original,  adding that since 2019, over 30,000 certificates had been delivered nationwide.

Planting for Foods and Jobs

Mr Ussif added that the scheme was strategically positioned to support the government's Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

He stated that the scheme had invested much resources into its farming projects across the country.

In the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 service year, the scheme deployed 2,160 and 5,000 service persons, respectively, into the agricultural sector.

He noted that the initiative would not only provide personnel with real world skills and practical training in agriculture but would also boost the interest of the youth in agriculture and provide employment opportunities.

Present at the conference was the Board Chairman of the NSS, Professor Kofi Osei Akuoko, and the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mr Benjamin Kwaku Gyasi, who represented the Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh.