We hereby, draw the nation’s attention to the disturbing and heart-wrenching plight of our young compatriots studying abroad on Ghana Government Scholarships. These young men and women are facing harrowing challenges, leading to personal and national humiliation.
The failure of the Akufo Addo/Bawumia led NPP government to honour its basic obligations to our students, has not only put the future of students in jeopardy, but has cast our dear nation in a bad light.
The students, some of our brightest, were granted scholarships to pursue higher education, many to prestigious institutions in the United Kingdom.
However, today, instead of celebrating academic success and contributing to national development, many face dire circumstances, with some unable to afford tuition fees, facing expulsion from their institutions, and threatened with deportation.
The Failure of Government and Ghana’s Tarnished Image:
It is unacceptable that the government, having promised to support these students, has left them in such a vulnerable and desperate state. The delay in the payment of tuition fees has caused several students to be withdrawn from their courses of offer, while others face potential deportation.
Worse still, the government has failed to pay stipends for 27 months for many PhD students, who enrolled in September/October 2021; forcing students into dehumanising situations just to survive in foreign countries.
In other instances, several of our PhD students who enrolled in September/October 2020, January/April 2021, and graduate students who enrolled between April and September 2021, and have completed their studies, have outstanding stipends and tuition fees.
Reports received paint a picture of desperation and despair. Some male students are compelled under the circumstances to sell their sperm for £150 to £250, while some female students, out of sheer desperation, are being forced into unwanted and exploitative relationships simply to have a roof over their heads or to make ends meet. No Ghanaian student should ever be subjected to such indignities as enumerated above. Yet it has become the norm for many of our young scholars abroad under this government’s watch.
The numbers are stark. From investigations, 927 students pursuing postgraduate degrees (785 Master’s and 142 PhDs) are suffering under this neglect, with an estimated £17,613,000 owed in tuition fees alone. This excludes the stipends for basic sustenance that have not been paid for many months.
The government’s failure to meet its financial obligations has forced some universities to withdraw their support and cancel Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) with the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat. The magnitude of this problem can not be overstated, and the longer it persists, the more damage it does to our national image and to the trust Ghanaians have in government institutions.
Demands for Immediate Action:
Given the severity of this crisis, we call on well-meaning Ghanaians to join us in making the following urgent demands on the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government on behalf of our distraught and traumatised students:
- Immediate Payment of Tuition Fees and Stipends: The government must take immediate steps to settle outstanding tuition fees and stipends owed all Ghanaian students abroad. The future of these students—and by extension, the future of Ghana—should not be jeopardized any longer, due to this gross negligence.
- Renegotiation of MOUs with Foreign Universities: The government must, as a matter of urgency, reopen all negotiations between the affected universities and the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, that have since been cancelled due to non-payment of fees and stipends to students. Restoring these relationships is critical to ensuring, that future students are not denied the opportunity to study abroad and return to support the development of our dear country due to the reckless and shameful mismanagement of this government.
The government must be reminded, that the neglect of these students is not just a betrayal of individual students but a betrayal of the nation as a whole. These students are the very people we expect to return home with the requisite knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to drive national development.
Government’s failure to support them, not only jeopardizes their futures, but the future of Ghana itself.
Conclusion:
We stand with the students and their families, and we will continue to use all available avenues to hold this government accountable.
The Akufo Addo/Bawumia government must act immediately to avoid further national embarrassment and irreversible damage to the future of our youth.
Ghana’s youth deserve better. The future of our country demands it. It is partly for this reason, that the next NDC government, led by HE John Dramani Mahama, seeks the mandate of Ghanaians to, amongst others, introduce legislation to usher in a new era of government scholarship administration.
The new scholarship regime will be transparent and will prohibit the award of scholarships to government officials and streamline scholarships across multiple sectors to do away with the current uncoordinated regime.
Signed,
Dr. Clement Abas Apaak
M.P, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member on Education Committee of Parliament
Date: 19th September, 2024.
