Premier Nursing and Midwifery Training College has appealed to the government, traditional authorities and other stakeholders for financial and institutional support to expand its operations and enhance the training of nurses and midwives in Ghana.
The private institution says support for the development of its new campus at Adadientem in the Ashanti Region is crucial to its plans to expand its facilities and introduce degree programmes in nursing.
The principal of the college, Afia Serwaa Yegbe, made the appeal at the launch of the institution’s 25th Anniversary Homecoming and Graduation Celebration, held under the theme, “25 Years of Impactful Nursing and Midwifery Education.”
Mrs Yegbe said the college was seeking adequate funding to develop the new campus and broaden its academic programmes to meet the changing demands of nursing and midwifery education.
“We need funds; we have a new site at Adadientem where we want to get enough money to work on that so that we can expand our horizons. We want to start the degree nursing; if we stay with diploma, you will be left behind,” she pleaded.
The anniversary launch brought together alumni, traditional leaders, academics and other stakeholders to celebrate the institution’s contribution to nursing and midwifery education over the past 25 years, while exploring ways to strengthen its future.
Addressing concerns about private nursing education, students were encouraged to remain committed to their studies and disregard perceptions that private nursing institutions offer inferior training.
They were reminded that several prominent health professionals serving in Ghana and abroad had received their training at the college.
They were urged to pursue academic excellence and professional competence to earn recognition in the health sector.
Registrar of the college, Nana Osei Kwadwo, allayed fears of unemployment associated with attending a private nursing institution, stressing that the college provides the requisite training for professional practice.
“Impactful nursing and midwifery education is not without a challenge. We’re facing a lot of challenges; one of them is that, when you attend a private school, you won’t get employment. It’s the government that employs people; the Premier has what it takes to employ people,” he noted.
On the financial difficulties confronting students, Nana Osei Kwadwo said many were struggling to pay their fees, as government allowances were insufficient to cover their educational expenses.
He has therefore called on stakeholders to support students financially to support the successful completion of their academic endeavours.
The college’s 25th anniversary highlights its contributions to nursing and midwifery education while renewing calls for partnerships and support to strengthen healthcare training and improve access to quality healthcare in Ghana.
Chief of Nkwantakese in the Afigya Kwabre North District, Nana Boakye Yam Ababio, a former lecturer at the college, called on traditional authorities to support private nursing and midwifery training institutions.
“If we have the means, people in our communities should be sponsored to be trained so that they will also come back to the communities to give back because we have the chips compound and we need the nurses, and so as traditional leaders, we can do something to help the training institutions so that Ghana will live up to expectations,” he pleaded.
