Ghanaian students on government scholarships in Algeria have commended the Akufo-Addo government for paying attention to their welfare. For the first time, a registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat has visited the country to check on the students.
Kingsley Agyemang described his visit to the students as a very important exercise. He used the opportunity to meet with officials of the Algerian Ministry of Education and took a second look at the various scholarship programmes in operation, to ensure that they fit in to Ghana’s development agenda.
During the visit, it was reported that ten months’ worth of student payment arrears had been cleared, including books and health allowances.
Effective leaders
David Tetteh, president of the Association of Ghanaian Students in Algeria, told the media that he and his peers were pleasantly surprised at how much the Secretariat has changed for the better under new leadership.
He said the keen interest shown by the registrar of the Secretariat had strengthened his desire to see that President Akufo-Addo’s vision of making education accessible to Ghanaian children is realised.
“We, the students in Algeria, were amazed at how things have been restructured at the Scholarship Secretariat under the leadership of Mr Kingsley Agyeman, affirming the keen interest of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the future of Ghanaian children and youth in the area of education and with initiatives such as free high school education and many others,” Tetteh said.
He mentioned that it was the first time that the Secretariat had expressed a profound interest in understanding the Algerian educational system and integrating it with that of Ghana.
“With this input and effective new phase of the scholarship system, we express our gratitude and thanks to the President for his vision for the future of Ghanaian education. We would also like to thank the current registrar for how devoted he has been so far and for the energy he is putting in to see to it that the purpose of the scholarship is fully attained,” Tetteh said.
“Massive response”
The commendation by the students in Algeria follows a recent intervention by the Secretariat in Cuba, where it paid arrears of students which had accumulated over a number of years.
The president of the National Union of Ghana Students in Cuba on Ghana government scholarships, Nyarko Quansah, applauded the Secretariat for the swift action taken to settle arrears for students undertaking studies in various fields outside the country.
He said that although delays in paying stipends had been a recurring challenge, “We cannot overlook the fact that, in recent times, there has been a massive response from your office. This has led to the payment of all accumulated arrears, both maintenance and book allowances, of the previous year.”
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