The Minister for Defence, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has clarified that the Emergency Service Response Readiness Programme introduced for national service personnel is voluntary and not compulsory.
The programme, launched in fulfilment of a major promise by President John Dramani Mahama, will commence in a few weeks.
It offers basic military and emergency response training over a six-week period and is scheduled to run in two batches from August to October.
This year, 10,000 National Service volunteers are expected to take part in the initiative, with plans to scale up the numbers in subsequent years.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, July 21, Dr. Omane Boamah stressed that participation is entirely voluntary, contrary to earlier reports suggesting otherwise.
“They are volunteers. It’s not compulsory. The areas of training will include basic military orientation, first aid, basic life support, disaster and fire management, nationalism and patriotism, loyalty and discipline, leadership, mentorship, and physical training, among others.
“The core objective of the programme is to equip national service personnel with relevant skills in security, disaster preparedness, and public safety. It must be clear, however, that the training programme is optional,” he said.
