Nurses line up to thank Nana Addo for restoring trainee allowances

Trainee nurses have lined up to thank President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for

The nurses lined up to say thank you to the the government for restoring their allowance at the launch of the restoration of the Nurses and Midwife Trainee Allowances at the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, Sunyani.

One nurses trainee who looks overwhelmed said "We thank the President for giving us our allowance. We were hoping, but now we have it.

"I want to say thank you to His Excellency. This is going to lessen the financial burden on our parents, and it’s going to help in our education as well."

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The allowance, which were scrapped by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) was met with strong resistance from the nursing trainees who complained bitterly about the difficulties it had brought upon them.

The NDC government insisted the continuous payment of the allowances would threaten the future of Ghana’s economy.

Under the allowance scheme, the nurses got at least GH¢450 every quarter. Government had explained the removal of the allowance was to allow it to admit more students.

The allowances had tied the hands of government because huge numbers had serious financial implications.

Nana Addo addressing over 1,000 trainee nurses, traditional leaders and some state officials at the launch he said a total of GH¢232 million had been committed by the government for this academic year’s payment.

"For the 2017/2018 academic year, effective September 2017, 58,000 health trainees comprising nurses and midwives, will be paid GH¢400 per person for each of the 10 months of the academic year. This means the government will be spending a total of GH¢ 232 million for this academic year," he added.

Prior to the 2016 elections, the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) assured students of the various teacher and nursing training institutions of the party’s commitment to bring back the allowances, to ensure they had a smooth training to serve the country.