Information regarding the National Service. [GHA6311]

The National Service Corps (NSC) was formed during the Busia government (1969-1972) (Naomi Chazan 1983 p.54). It was viewed as a "self-help local development organization that would assist in rural improvement schemes"(Ibid.). In 1982, the National Youth Organizing Commission began to gather resources and train cadres, reportedly former secondary and post-secondary students who were fulfilling their compulsory period of National Service (Donald Ray 1986 p.94).

The National Union of Ghanaian Students (NUGS) was in opposition to the extension of the mandatory National Service Scheme from one to two years and the inclusion of six months of military training in the program (Jon Kraus 1983 p.131, BBC 25 September 1980).

For more information regarding the National Service in Ghana, please consult the attached excerpts from the following documents:
-Naomi Chazan, An Anatomy of Ghanaian Politics: Managing Political Recession, 1969-1982, Boulder: Westview Press, 1983, p.54.
-Donald I. Ray, Ghana: Politics, Economics and Society, London: Francis Pinter Publishers, 1986, pp. 92-97.
-Jon Kraus, "Revolution and the Military in Ghana", Current History, Philadelphia: Current History Inc., March 1983, pp. 131.
-Colin Legum, ed., Africa Contemporary Record Annual Survey and Documents, New York: Africana Publishing Company, for 1982-1983 p.B454, 1983-1984 p. B436 and for 1985-1986 pp. B32-BB39.
-BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 25 September 1980, 26 April 1982, 16 June 1982, 3 August 1982, 4 September 1982, 16 December 1982, 17 December 1982, 15 March 1983, 24 January 1989 and 8 November 1989.
-"Ghana: Bridging the Gap between Wages and Prices", Inter Press Service, 3 June 1985.