National Service: Military Training For NSS Personnel to Begin on August 31
- The optional military training of national service personnel is scheduled to start on August 31, 2025
- The National Service Authority is rolling out a pilot phase of a six-week Basic Military Training programme
- The authority received 135,990 submissions from 122 tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 service year
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The military training of national service personnel will begin on August 31, 2025. And, a first batch of 10,000 national service personnel has been selected for the pilot phase of the new military orientation programme.
Source: Facebook
Addressing a press briefing on August 4, the Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, said the initiative is being implemented in line with the National Service Act, 2024 (Act 1119), and falls within the policy direction of the new national service strategy.
“This policy is not about the militarisation of service personnel... It is about leadership, resilience, and civic responsibility.”
The six-week basic military training, which will be voluntary, also forms part of efforts to promote discipline among young graduates.
The National Service Authority is working with the Ghana Armed Forces to deliver the training.
In April, the National Service Authority reached an agreement with the Military High Command on the implementation of the Basic Military Training programme. The programme is expected to expand to reach 100,000 in subsequent years.
Registration for the optional training was included in the online enrolment process, which opened on June 17 and closed on July 1, 2025.
The National Service Authority released PIN codes for 132,393 prospective national service personnel in June who were from 100 accredited tertiary institutions across Ghana, ahead of the 2025/2026 service year.
The authority said the current intake is on average 26% lower than figures from the previous three years.
About the national service scheme
Established in 1973, the National Service Authority is a Government of Ghana programme under the Ministry of Education of Ghana with a National Secretariat in Accra, and offices in all administrative regions and districts across the country.
The scheme is mandated to deploy a pool of skilled manpower drawn primarily from tertiary institutions to support the development efforts of both the public and private sectors in Ghana.
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Although it is a citizenry requirement for all Ghanaians who are 18 years and above, it is currently limited to and mandatory for all Ghanaians graduating from tertiary educational institutions who are not 18 years old.
The original intent of deploying freshly graduated youth under the National Service Authority arrangement is to ensure that priority sectors of our national life are never lacking in the requisite human resources needed for development.
NSS explores international deployment
YEN.com.gh reported that the National Service Scheme had hinted at a plan to deploy personnel abroad to countries like the US as part of a new programme.
According to the Director of Corporate Affairs at the National Service Authority, the scheme would come up with a 10-year policy which will inform strategic deployments. The international deployment will also involve collaboration with the above-listed countries for personnel exchanges.
Proofreading by Omoleye Omoruyi, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
