The role of national service in enhancing employability skills of tertiary graduates in Ghana: a case of national service personnel in the Central Region

Abstract

PurposeOne of the means to enhance the employability skills of tertiary graduates transiting into the job market has been the compulsory national service instituted by the Government of Ghana. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the contribution of the mandatory national service to enhance the employability of tertiary graduates in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the longitudinal descriptive survey design to sample 375 national service personnel (2018 and 2019 batches) of 13,874 service personnel posted to the Central Region of Ghana, and 31 employers.FindingsThe study found human relation, communication and experience to enter the job market were perceived higher by tertiary graduates in Ghana. It was also found that the preferred employers amongst tertiary graduates were the government, multinational companies and public schools. Skills mismatch between the acquired skills of tertiary graduates and the skills required by employers was also found. Responsible factor identified was the posting of personnel for national service without considering their academic background and future job aspirations. Tertiary graduates transiting into the job market after the national service preferred to be employed by the government because of the lack of entrepreneurial skills.Practical implicationsTherefore, it was recommended that the national service secretariat post national service personnel to organisations that reflect personnel's career aspiration.Originality/valueThis is original research carried out by the researchers and was not sponsored by any organisation/institution.

Effect of COVID-19 on acquisition of employable skills among national service personnel in Ghana

“…Ghana, among other 20 African countries, has introduced compulsory national service for tertiary graduate under the age of 40 in all sectors of the economy to enhance their employable skills (Segbenya et al , 2021; Ajayi, 2016). The National Service Scheme of Ghana came into force in 1973 with the aim of supporting the national human resources needs in various sectors such as education, technology, and agriculture, among others.…”

“…For this reason, tertiary graduates after the completion of an accredited degree or diploma programmes are posted to all sectors of the economy to work for a year to acquire some employable skills for the job market (Langer and Meuleman, 2019). “National service personnel are paid an allowance of less than $100 a month after been posted to either private or public sector organisations that request their services” (Segbenya et al , 2021, p. 9). The compulsory nature of the national service coupled with postings to sectors solely determined by the national service secretariat on behalf of the government poses ethical and right to work challenges.…”

“…Thus, the fundamental human rights enshrined in section 24 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana on the right to work under the economic rights of citizens (Hodges and Baah, 2006) and the right to education in Ghana, could be difficult to assess during the COVID-19 pandemic. One category of the youth acquiring employable skills for transiting to the job market is the tertiary graduates undertaking mandatory national service (Segbenya et al , 2021).…”

“…According to Segbenya et al (2021), “countries have adopted the mandatory national service as a practical training period to reduce the skill mismatch and enhance employability among tertiary graduates transiting from school into the job market”. This method of enhancing employable skills could play a complementary role to the work applied management methods such as work-based learning in the form of apprenticeship undertaken by these graduates when they were in school (Rizvi et al , 2013).…”

Effect of Teleworking on Working Conditions of Workers: A Post-COVID-19 Lockdown Evaluation

“…The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 has disrupted the everyday way of living and the world of work [1,2]. Apart from being a global health crisis, the COVID-19 also poses a major global socioeconomic challenge to skills training [3,4] and work processes [3]. The impact of COVID-19 on workers' socioeconomic life stem from measures such as full or partial lockdown, restriction or ban on large gathering, practising social distancing, among others, to curtail the spread of the virus.…”