The immediate past president of National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG), Alhaji Mohammed Kwaku Doku has attacked government for the reintroduction of the quota system in the country’s health educational institutions.

“Attention has been drawn to a publication indicating government’s directive to reintroduce the abolished quota system for admission into public and private nursing and midwifery training colleges”, he noted.

According to him, the directive seems to have already taken effect despite its glaring disadvantages to the country in general and the rural poor in particular.

“The return of the quota system is certainly not a good decision for us, especially when more nurses are needed to provide healthcare in rural Ghana”, the former Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Asunafo North in the Brong Ahafo Region under the previous administration claims.

“Ghana would need not less than 38,000 nurses and midwives to bridge the nurse-patient ratio making the directive untenable and dire for the good people of Ghana”, Hon. Mohammed Doku indicated.

The former MCE and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the 2016 polls said “the previous government abolished the quota system to pave way for more students to be admitted into the various training institutions to beef up the human resource base needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“It is therefore curious that New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is bringing back the policy while the goals have not been achieved”, he wondered on ” Dwabirim” afternoon political talk show on Kumasi-based Otec FM..

According to him, the reintroduction of the quota system will deprive interested and qualified applicants from getting admission to various public nursing training colleges.

“The quota system would at best only open the floodgates for admission corruption and deprive genuinely qualified persons and especially the wards of the less well to do from gaining access to tertiary education”,he told host Agya Wusu Ansah.

“In as much as its introduction in government institutions is untenable, the imposition of same on private institutions defeats the government’s mantra of strengthening the private sector to partake in its developmental agenda”, the former MCE and failed NDC 2016 parliamentary candidate stated.

“The training of more nurses and midwives would not only improve healthcare delivery in the country but would also open up job avenues in the private sector to relieve the government of its burden of graduate unemployment, at such a time it is complaining the public sector is choked”, Hon. Mohammed Kwaku Doku then pointed out.

“We call on the government to withdraw this suicidal and anti-poor policy or brace up for a massive demonstration and other constitutional means to force it to do the right thing”, the Executive Director of Platform for Action on Democratic and Local Government (PADLoG) warned.