This was announced by President Akufo-Addo at a grand event to celebrate the restoration of the allowance in the Brong Ahafo region.

[contextly_sidebar id=”gVsTBlA8tcqy0WKsJzrb6pzrBg15b51C”]“For the 2017/2018 academic year, effective September 2017, 58,000 health trainees comprising nurses and midwives, will be paid GH¢400 per person for each of the 10 months of the academic year. This means the government will be spending a total of GH¢ 232 million for this academic year,” Akufo-Addo said.

The previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, scrapped the allowance for trainee nurses in 2013.

It explained that it canceled the regular payments because it prevented the state from investing in infrastructure to admit more students.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the run-up to the December 2016 elections promised to restore the monthly allowance if voted into office.

Following the party’s victory, it assured the trainees of honouring the promise at the start of the academic year.

At  the event to officially launch the reintroduction of the allowance, President Akufo-Addo said his government is committed to investing in education and the future of its youth.

“I have chosen to invest in the education and in the future of our young men and women, and I will use the blessings the Almighty has so amply bestowed on us to this end,” he said.

While addressing concerns over the sustainability of the program, he said, “to the professional cynics and skeptics, those who have made an industry out of constantly asking if this policy is sustainable, I wish to assure them that with the proper management of public finances, the nation’s budget can accommodate such an amount.”

Over 16,000 health workers employed

The president said that the government has employed some 16,000 qualified young nurses and midwives and other health professionals, who, though qualified, had not found employment over the last few years.

He further assured that additional nurses and midwives will be employed before the end of the year, to reduce the backlog of graduate health professionals yet to be employed.

“Next year, we plan to employ even more healthcare workers. To your colleagues in private nursing and midwifery training institutions, who have been at home for a number of years, next year our healthcare institutions will begin recruiting them,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him the decision which has compelled government to also re-introduce the quota system for nursing training institutions is ill-informed and will only “create difficulties” for the government.

[contextly_sidebar id=”RLJH9C8DQtnulAzGuXuEWZA2N5RULqaX”]“I think that they are creating difficulties for themselves because the allowance is not something that should be brought back at this stage,” he said on Eyewitness News on Wednesday.

Government on Wednesday announced the re-introduction of the quota system which was scrapped by the Mahama government together with the trainee allowances.

Mr. Segbefia explained that they scrapped the allowances and tried introducing the trainees to the student loan scheme to boost admissions into the health institutions.

He however said the laws at the time prevented trainees from accessing the loan scheme but said they were in the process of formulating the necessary policies to make that possible before they were kicked out of office.

The former minister insisted that they had good intentions for the trainee nurses including exporting them to other countries for foreign exchange.

“We had said by this time that we will pay them 150GHc but we were hoping to change the law if we had come back to power and the student loan was available, we would not have gone back to dealing with the allowances we would have said that this is the student loan, apply for it like anybody else and go to work. And when you finish what we will give you as a guarantee is that we will try and employ you even on a staggered basis but we will make sure that we employ you because we need all the nurses.”

“We were looking as part of our long term programme was that just the same way we were employing doctors from Cuba we thought that if were able to get fully qualified nurses we had a few African countries which had shown interest in us exporting full time nurses to them if they required it so we were not worried about the number of nurses coming out we were worried about the quantity and quality in particular areas,” he added.

Mr. Segbefia further said the current quota system could only create shortage of nurses in the country since “less nurses will be trained” and advised government to review the decision.

Health Ministry defends trainee nurses quota system

In a related development, the Health Ministry has defended government’s decision to introduce the quota system saying it is aimed at improving quality of the nurses in the country.

The Ministry explained that the move will allow training institutions to produce nurses to meet the demands of the health sector, thus reducing unemployment.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The BBC understands that Ford, 71, broke his ankle in an incident involving a door at Pinewood Studios.

The Hollywood actor, who starred as Han Solo in the original three Star Wars films and is currently filming the new Episode VII sequel, was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford.

A spokesman for Lucasfilm said filming would continue while he recuperates.

“Harrison Ford sustained an ankle injury during filming today on the set of Star Wars: Episode VII. He was taken to a local hospital and is receiving care.

“Shooting will continue as planned while he recuperates,” a statement from the production company Lucasfilm said on Thursday night.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police confirmed officers had been called to the studio, near London, just after 17:00 BST to reports a 71-year-old man had been injured in an incident involving a garage door.

“The man was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital with injuries which are not believed to be life threatening. The Health and Safety Executive is investigating,” the force said.

New trilogy

A spokeswoman for South Central Ambulance Service said they were called to an incident involving “a door that had fallen.”

Ford is set to be joined in the film by fellow original Star Wars series cast mates Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew.

Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow are also starring.

Star Wars: Episode VII will be the first in a new trilogy of films.

Chancellor George Osborne earlier said the decision to shoot Episode VII in the UK was “testament to the incredible talent in Britain” and meant “more jobs and more investment”.

Source: BBC

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The unnamed film will be in addition to the forthcoming Star Wars trilogy, the first instalment of which will be directed by JJ Abrams.

Writer Gary Whitta, who penned the script for 2010’s The Book of Eli, will write the screenplay for Edwards’ film.

The film is due to be released on 16 December 2016.

In a statement, Edwards said: “Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life – join the Rebel Alliance!

“I could not be more excited and honoured to go on this mission.”

Whitta echoed his sentiments and said the “opportunity to contribute” was “literally a dream come true”.

Box office success

Edwards’ recent 3D film Godzilla topped the US box office chart and has taken more than $216m (£128m) worldwide, according to Boxofficemojo.

He also won widespread acclaim for his independent film Monsters, which was released in 2010.

The original Star Wars trilogy – which consists of the original film in 1977, 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi – was always envisaged by creator George Lucas as the central chunk of a nine-movie cycle.

The films followed the fortunes of young hero Luke Skywalker, cocky pilot Han Solo and the feisty Princess Leia as they battled against the Galactic Empire.

A trilogy of Star Wars prequels – 1999’s The Phantom Menace, 2002’s Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith – followed.

Disney – which announced it had bought Lucasfilm for $4.05bn (£2.5bn) in 2012 – has previously said Lucas would remain as a creative consultant on the forthcoming trilogy, which begins with Star Wars: Episode VII, due to be released next year.

Source: BBC

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The film company, founded by the movie’s director JJ Abrams, tweeted a picture of a branded clapper board with the hashtag “#dayone”.

A dusting of sand on the picture appears to confirm initial scenes are being shot in Abu Dhabi.

On Wednesday, actor Oscar Isaac told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row that production was due to start this month.

The 34-year-old said: “The whole process is under way. We’re shooting in the studios here in London.”

Isaac was one of the new cast members announced for the film in April, alongside Daisy Ridley and John Boyega.

Recently seen in Inside Llewyn Davis, the actor said his family were “very excited” by his latest role.

“My uncle and my cousin have galleries of the Star Wars toys they’ve collected,” he told Kirsty Lang.

“So once I told them I had been cast, he nearly fainted, my uncle. He got sweaty and pale. He was very excited.

“The idea that I could be a toy for him is the craziest thing.”

Little is known about Isaac’s role in Star Wars: Episode VII, and the actor admitted he was under strict orders not to reveal details.

However he spoke about being cast in the movie by director JJ Abrams, saying he had been called to a meeting in Paris earlier this year.

“I’m a huge Star Wars fan but at the same time I’m defensively pessimistic, so I assumed that maybe it was a different project,” he said.

Once Abrams confirmed the meeting was about Star Wars, Isaac said he “tried to play it cool – but, I mean, it was clear I was just so excited he wanted me to be a part of the whole acomplia thing.”

The actor also confessed he used to dress up as characters from the outer space blockbuster franchise as a child.

“Not as a Jedi Knight,” he stressed, “but I dressed up as a gonk droid a couple of times.

“I liked the tertiary characters or the ones you don’t necessarily look at. I was a huge Boba Fett fan.”

The film will be the first Star Wars title released by Disney, after creator George Lucas sold the rights to the franchise in 2012.

It will also see the return of the three principal characters from the original trilogy – Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford).

Earlier this year, Guatemalan-born Isaac was nominated for several awards, including a best actor Golden Globe, for starring in the Coen Brothers’ folk music drama Inside Llewyn Davis.

He told Front Row the accolades led directly to his latest role, in the thriller The Two Faces of January.

“Early on, before I’d been cast in Llewyn Davies, [director Hossein Amini] had shown me the script because we’d worked together on Drive.

“At the time there was very little chance I’d be cast – but once I was cast in Llewyn Davies, that opened up a lot of doors.”

Laughing, he added: “They couldn’t get the money to make the movie with some weirdo named Oscar.”

“It’s kind of crazy that’s how it works, but that’s how it’s worked for a very long time.”

Source: BBC

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