Students On Ghana Government Scholarships In UK Are Reportedly Stranded Over Money

• Some students on the Government of Ghana scholarships in the UK are reportedly stranded over delays in their fees and subvention
• The claim by NDC Deputy Youth Organiser, Edem Agbana, is said to have arisen because the government seems to be directing funds to other sectors
• Mr Agbana also told 3 News that the state's lack of priority in the education sector is also the reason the quality of food served under the school feeding initiative was poor

An executive of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has claimed that Ghanaian students on Ghana government scholarships in the UK are stranded because fees and subvention have not been paid.

Edem Agbana, Deputy National Youth Organiser of the party, claimed during a current affairs and news analysis programme on TV 3 that 50 of the affected students have reached out to him for help.

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According to him, the problem has not arisen due to lack of money but because government has failed to make education a priority.

“It is not that there is no money but it is a matter of priority. The government says there is no money but it is importing Land Cruiser V8 vehicles. Even current ministers who were ministers from 2017 have abandoned their 2017 registered cars for brand new ones,” Agbana is quoted in a report by 3 News.

To buttress his point about a lack of priority in education, he said food served to boarding students are in very poor quality because caterers are owed huge sums of money by the government.

Edem Agbana said he has withdrawn his junior sister from the boarding house because of the complaints of poor quality of food students eat.

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“I have a friend who supplies food to some Secondary Schools who are being owed for one year. I can’t mention his name and the schools he supplies to for fear of victimisation,” he alleged further.

He has called for a stakeholder engagement to help develop a national policy on education for the progress of the sector.

The claims by Mr Agbana follow a violent protest by students of Savelugu Senior High School in the Northern Region in February 2022, over the low quality of their meals.

The agitating students claimed they were being fed expired milk and canned fish. They also said their meals did not fill them because it was too small.

The Ministry of Education is yet to respond to the claims made by Edem Agbana.

Free SHS: Professor Aryeetey Gives 5 Reasons Quality Of Ghana's Public School System Is Declining

In a previous unrelated story, YEN.com.gh reported that former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Ernest Aryeetey, has given five reasons for the decline in the quality of Ghana's public school system, especially the free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.

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Releasing research findings by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), for which he is the General Secretary, Prof Aryeetey revealed that the poor performance of Ghana's public school system is generally attributed to the following:

1. Inadequate investment in schools reflected by poor infrastructure, facilities and equipment;

2. Inadequate teacher preparation, often attributed to poor motivation and low morale;

3. Inadequate time spent in school;

4. Schools focus on getting students to pass examinations mainly, so there is no broad education and critical thinking;

5. System of governance of public schools does not provide much incentive for schools to want to excel.

Source: YEN.com.gh