National Service

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The other day as I was out with Yaw, I learned some interesting things about Ghana, the government, the schooling system, and the workforce. Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned in this conversation is that upon finishing university/college, each graduate has to complete one year of National Service. Now the first thing that might come to your head is conscription/military stuff...but no. Each person has to go and work as a teacher, or for an organization, in a hospital, etc to better their country. During this time, they are paid by the government (enough to get by). This not only provides work experience for the graduate, but also provides help to the company, school, organization, etc to develop. Once they have completed this service, the volunteer/worker receives a certificate. Without this certificate, no Ghanaian professional will be hired by any company.

In Canada, volunteerism is not required, but alot of people do it for a certain charity, or community group, or school that their child attends, etc, however, many people do not....and after having thought about this required "National Service" I began to wonder what Canada would be like if we were all required to do this before entering the "real" workforce...would we be better prepared? More caring? More open and adaptable? Or would it simply send our structured system into a tail spin?

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