Re: Ghanaian Scholars in the UK are now Beggars.....

The attention of the Ghana High Commission in the United Kingdom has been drawn to a feature article posted on Ghanaweb on Tuesday, 15 June 2010 by Agyemang Peter, a columnist on the plight of Ghanaian students studying in the UK.

The Education Section of the Ghana High Commission which has responsibility for administering the Ghana Government Scholarship provided by the GETFUND/Government of Ghana wishes to correct the impression the said article sought to create that Ghanaian students in UK “have been turned into beggars by those whose duty it is to pay [us] their stipend” as the writer puts it.

The Education Section of the Ghana High Commission wishes to state that there are currently 63 students studying for various graduate programmes under the GETFUND/Government scholarships in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Government currently spends over £23,000.00 per student on graduate studies annually. At present, we can confirm that GETFUND has transferred funds for part payment of tuition and full payment of book and maintenance allowances for the whole of the 2009/2010 academic year for all students under our responsibility.

All students with outstanding maintenance and Book Allowance for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2009/2010 academic year have been paid. The payments were effected through the Ghana International Bank in London and the Bank has confirmed to the High Commission that all student accounts have been credited.

The Education Section has also received Tuition fees for more than 50 percent of students and the Scholarship Secretariat in Accra is arranging to transfer the last tranche of tuition fees for onward disbursement to Institutions of respective students before the end of the academic year.

Based on these facts, therefore, the High Commission wishes to state categorically that the Scholarship Secretariat operating through the Ghana High Commission does not owe maintenance or book allowance to any student in the UK, Sweden or the Netherlands. The outstanding tuition fees are owed to the respective Universities and there are unrelenting efforts on the part of Government to settle all tuition fees before the end of the academic year.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Ghana High Commission reiterates its commitment to ensure that students on Government Scholarships receive their allowances promptly. That notwithstanding, and in an effort to continuously improve on its service delivery, the High Commission wishes to encourage any student with such grievances in the future to avail him/herself of the Mission’s open-door policy to discuss such issues first with the Education Section before going public on matters that could have been easily resolved.

Issued by the Information Section, Ghana High Commission, London Tel: +44 20 7 20 1 5924 Email: information@ghanahighcommissionuk.com