The National Service Authority (NSA) has suspended the deployment of graduates from 13 tertiary institutions for this year's national service after the institutions were found not to have accredited status from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).
The NSA said the affected institutions had submitted the names of their graduating students for deployment, but a subsequent verification with GTEC showed that the institutions were not accredited.
In a statement issued and signed by the Director-General of the NSA, Ruth Dela Seddoh, and copied to The Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, the Authority named the institutions as Multimedia Institute of Ghana, Abbeam Institute of Technology, Star College of Communication and Standard College of Technology.
The others are Institute of Commercial Management, UK; Christ Apostolic University College; Oxford Institute of Business and Journalism; Heaf Professional Colleges; and NIIT Open Labs Ghana.
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The remaining institutions are Community University College, Takoradi; SS Peter and Paul Pastoral and Social Institute; Adonai University College of Research and Entrepreneurship; and College of Tropical Agriculture.
"We are unable to deploy graduates submitted by the institutions for national service at this time," the NSA said.
It explained that the decision was based on accreditation information provided by GTEC, the statutory body responsible for regulating and accrediting tertiary institutions in Ghana.
The NSA, however, said graduates from the affected institutions could still be considered for national service once their respective institutions resolved their accreditation issues and GTEC formally confirmed their accredited status to the Authority.
"Upon receipt of such confirmation, the Authority will take the necessary steps to facilitate the processing and deployment of eligible graduates," the statement said.
The Authority advised the affected institutions to engage directly with GTEC to regularise their accreditation status.
Prospective national service personnel from the affected institutions were also encouraged to liaise with their schools on the status of their accreditation and await official communication from the NSA.
The NSA said the verification and deployment measures were intended to protect the integrity, credibility and transparency of the National Service Programme.
It added that it would continue to work with GTEC and other stakeholders to ensure that only graduates from duly accredited tertiary institutions were mobilised for national service.
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