Ministry to affiliate health training schools to universities
Mrs. Sherry Ayittey, the Minister of Health, on Tuesday said the Ministry was working towards affiliating all health training colleges to universities.
The move is to strengthen quality as well as ensuring proper certification of grandaunts.
Mrs. Ayittey said in a speech read for her that a memorandum of understanding had been signed with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to affiliate all midwifery schools to the University.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions, she said the Ministry was working on the accreditation process for the School of Hygiene and all other Diploma awarding schools.
The theme for the conference was“Achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, the Role of Health Training Institutions.”
The conference deliberated on ways that health institutions would turn out professionals with passion and dedication to duty to accelerate the gains as well as meeting the 2015 target on the MDGs.
Mrs. Ayittey said the government was commitment to achieving the 2015 targets, adding that the Ministry had procured textbooks as well as teaching and learning materials for all health institutions nationwide to enhance teaching and learning and also to sharpen the skills of tutors.
The Ministry, she said, was partnering the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication to equip all nursing training institutions with computer laboratories to ensure that trainees had access to internet and other electronic facilities.
On the other hand, she said growing concern with the quality of services provided by health care professionals had necessitated the need for quality supervision at the training schools.
“The Ministry is changing focus from the increased intake into health training institutions to quality training and as heads you must step up your monitoring and supervisory roles to ensure that tutors improve instructions to students”.
Mr. Edward Addo, the Western Regional Minister in a speech read for him appealed to training institutions to tailor their training in a way that would enable students to be abreast with current trends of health delivery.
He said health professionals must see themselves as the vehicle through which God extends healing to the sick and should therefore pursue their career with diligence and dedication.
Mr. James Yambor, Immediate past Chairman of the Conference of Heads of health Training Institutions commended the Ministry of Health for the move to establish an agency to manage all health institutions in the country.
Source: GNA