Accra, July 13, GNA - The Republic of Bangladesh is studying the operations of Ghana's National Service Scheme (NSS) for replication in that country.

To this end, a two-member delegation from the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bangladesh arrived in Accra on Monday for a four-day working visit, to hold consultations with the executives of Ghana's NSS to enable them to get a better understanding of the structure and operation of the scheme.

Bangladesh recently began implementing a national service scheme on pilot basis, and the delegation seeks to study the Ghanaian concept to help ensure efficiency in her scheme. Mr Vincent Senam Kuagbenu, Executive Director of NSS, who led the delegation to pay a courtesy call on Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister of Education in Accra on Tuesday, said the move by Bangladesh was an expression of confidence in Ghana's NSS. He said together with other executives of Scheme, they would expose the NSS concept, its legal mandate and projects to the delegation. Mr Kuagbenu announced that the delegation would visit NSS farms at Papao in Accra and Ejura in the Ashanti Region to observe the projects, as well as interact with service personnel on the farms. He said the delegation would also visit some scheme centres in Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions to learn about their operations and interact with staff.

Mr Tettey-Enyo, who received the delegation together with Mrs Elizabeth Tetteh-Amoah, Deputy Minister in-charge of Pre-tertiary education, expressed appreciation to Bangladesh for making Ghana's NSS an object of study and which she intends to replicate in her jurisdiction.

He said Ghana's NSS, which had been in operation for over four decades, was a world class standard and a model to consult for effective service scheme implementation. Mr Tettey-Enyo assured the delegation of maximum assistance to enable it to secure all the necessary information needed to help their country to implement the scheme effectively. He commended Mr Kuagbenu for his exemplary leadership, which culminated in the transformation of the NSS, and its benefits which include deploying more personnel to areas where trained teachers refused postings, helping to supplement the shortfall of teachers in the educational sector.

Mr Muhammad Azizur Rahman, Joint Secretary and Director General of Department of Youth Development of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bangladesh, who led the delegation, said it came to Ghana because both countries were similar in all spheres of development. He said even though Bangladesh had visited other countries to learn about their service schemes, it could not replicate them because they did not match with her development aspirations, except that of Ghana. Mr Rahman praised the executives of the NSS for receiving them warmly, saying this was a testament of the Ghanaian hospitality. The delegation later visited Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of NSS, where Mr Ebenezer Edzii, Regional Director, took them through their operations.