Ghanian students on scholarship in Serbia still grappling with problems

Ghanaian students studying in Serbia on government scholarship are still grappling with problems since they have still not received the needed assistance from the Scholarships Secretariat.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, on Tuesday, Mr Fusseini Lansah, Executive Director, Scholarships Secretariat, said the Secretariat had written to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on the plight of the students and was still waiting for their response.

“Such issues come about due to delay in the release of remittances. Government is the sole sponsor of the Secretariat and we also release monies when we receive them.”

“In addition, we have not been given the mandate to seek assistance from other sources hence some of these financial challenges we face”.

He noted that sometimes some of the students who complained exaggerated the matter while others were not even on government scholarship but private students.

Mr Lansah, who is also the Scholarships Registrar, noted that for a long time, the Secretariat had advocated for the quick release of funds to mitigate some of these challenges faced by some students in foreign countries.

He said the Secretariat did not have specific number of students to assist every year, as school intake across the country increased every academic year.

“Although we try to help as many students as possible, much emphasis is given to the people with physical disability, orphans and girls.”

Mr Lansah cited funding as the major challenge of the Secretariat, adding that, it was understaffed and more hands were needed.

It would be recalled that on March 19, this year there was media publication that about 11 Ghanaian students studying in Serbia on government scholarship had turned to beggars due to non-payment of their remittances from government.

Source: GNA