The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has engaged the Citizens Coalition regarding the concerns they raised over the Scholarship Authority Bill, which is currently before Parliament at the consideration stage.
The Citizens’ Coalition, a network of civil society organisations and eminent individuals, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, admonished Parliament to halt the passage of the Scholarship Authority Bill, currently being considered under a certificate of urgency.
According to the group, although the Bill was a positive initiative, its fast-tracking was problematic.
It was the argument of the Coalition that there was no pressing emergency to justify bypassing normal legislative processes.
“The need for reform is undeniable,” the statement read, “yet the Bill in its current form does not adequately address the structural weaknesses of the existing scholarships regime. Rather than remedying the prevailing opacity, nepotism, and political interference, it risks institutionalising them.”
The statement was signed by key members of the Coalition, including Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, and Dr Kojo Asante, Director of Partnerships and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).
It further asserted that the Bill lacks the necessary provisions to establish a transparent, accountable, and merit-based system of scholarship administration aligned with international best practices.
Barely 24 hours after raising these concerns, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, engaged them, assuring them that he would lead consultations with the CSOs on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, and solicit their views before the Bill is finally considered and passed into law.
This was confirmed through a Facebook post by Kofi Asare, Executive Director of African Education Watch, a policy education think tank who is also a member of the Coalition.
His Facebook post read: “Minister for Educ just engaged the Citizens’ Coalition. He is happy to lead consultations with CSOs on Tuesday to enrich the Scholarship Bill before Bill is finally considered & passed”.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
