The National Service Authority says the scheme's deployment approach has now been shifted towards posting a greater percentage of graduates to the private sector instead of the previous strategy of posting more to the public sector.

The move, according to the new leadership of the service, was aimed at reducing pressure on government resources and improving employment chances for young people.

The Director-General of the Authority, Mr Felix Gyamfi said the decision was part of a broader attempt to align the National Service Scheme with the current needs of Ghana’s economy.

He spoke in an interview with Woezor TV on Monday, May 5, 2025.

“For far too long, we’ve been sending the majority of our people into the public sector,” Mr Gyamfi said.

“As we speak now, in the last eight years, only 14 per cent of people have been sent into the private sector. That works against what we need to do, because the economy is growing in the private sector.”

He said the Authority intends to gradually increase the number of service personnel posted to private institutions.

According to him, this will ease the financial load on the state, which struggles to pay monthly allowances for over 20,000 personnel, and will also give graduates better prospects of securing jobs after their service.

Mr Gyamfi noted that those who do their service in the private sector are often employed within three years, compared to longer waiting periods for those posted to public institutions.

He added that trimming the number of personnel posted to the public sector would make it easier for the government to meet payment obligations without delay.

“If we send people to the private sector, we take the burden off government,” he said. “The very few who will be left… they will get paid quickly, and they’ll get paid more.”

Mr Gyamfi said the new approach is part of a broader national effort to prepare graduates with the right skills and exposure to meet the demands of the job market.