Lack of cash forces gov't to cut down on GETFund scholarship

Government has reduced the number of GETFund scholarship beneficiaries in various countries due to lack of funds.

Deputy Minister for Education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, confirmed this in an interview with Citi News, Friday, November 1.

The confirmation comes in the wake of delays in the payment of scholarship allowances to existing beneficiaries.

Some beneficiaries, who are currently pursuing their education outside the country, have time without number, lamented the increasing hardships and inconvenience the delays have caused them and have made several appeals for government to come to their aid.

Okudzeto Ablakwa said government is working feverishly to pay outstanding debts owed the beneficiaries.

The deputy minister, however, dismissed assertion that the scholarship scheme has completely been cancelled.

"It is the GETFund scholarship that i must admit that this year because of the pressure on the economy, the number of students that went out on GETFund scholarship does not compare to those who went out last year and two years ago.

"But it is not accurate to say that the GETFund scholarship has been cancelled. "There was a back log of arrears, which has to be cleared based on students, who were agitating because they had not received their tuition fees. So our priority this year was to clear the backlog," he explained.