The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch has called for a single national scholarship commission with a legal framework and mandate.
Mr. Kofi Asare says the commission ought to be established with a legal framework and mandate to manage all amorphous public and public-corporate scholarship schemes and account to Parliament and the Auditor-General annually.
He is always responding to the scandal that has hit the National Scholarship Secretariat.
A recent publication by the Fourth Estate dubbed ‘Scholarship Bonanza’ has, among other things, alleged that scholarships are being unfairly distributed to well-connected affluent individuals.
The Fourth Estate, in its latest publication christened ‘Scholarship Bonanza’, has named persons close to key government officials as beneficiaries of scholarships that it deems inappropriate.
The Fourth Estate reported that the Scholarship Secretariat’s response to the RTI request showed that it had spent GHS237.5 million and GHS200 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively, covering both foreign and local scholarships.
The investigations by the news portal revealed a trend where scholarship funds were handed over to influential people as well as children, relatives, and associates of powerful figures.
Reacting to the latest publication, Mr. Kofi Asare noted that the current scholarship scheme we have has been deliberately designed as a secretariat under the Presidency with no legal framework, making it more vulnerable to political influence.
He stressed that Ghanaians will not witness any change due to the entrenched political greed culture, which is never an option.
Read the fulls statement below
WANTED- A SINGLE NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS COMMISSION
What Ghana needs is a single National Scholarships Commission with a legal framework and mandate to manage all amorphous public and public-corporate scholarship schemes, and account to Parliament; the Auditor-General annually.
The current one is deliberately designed as a secretariat under the Presidency with no legal framework, making it more vulnerable to political influence.
While Eduwatch and partners have been saying this for years; governments have refused to listen because, they see scholarships as rewards for party ‘boys’ and ‘girls’, ‘loyal’ student leaders and an incentive for high ranking politicians, their families and friends.
Citizens must take advantage of the Election 2024 season to push for manifesto commitments to legal and institutional reform of public scholarships in Ghana.
Giving up under the defeatist belief that things can’t change due to the entrenched political greed culture is never an option.
Things can change; but only us can cause things to change positively.
This is one of the issues i submitted to the NPP’s Education Manifesto Committee at their meeting yesterday.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
