GRADUATE Students of Ghana (GRASAG) have threatened to take legal action against the scholarship board and the Ministry of Education should they continue to delay the release of their 2014/2015 Bursary and Theses Grant for them.
The legal action they contended will awaken the government to facilitate moves to ensure that they receive their money which is due them.
The Bursary and Theses Grant is a fund by government to support post graduate education, that is, to reduce the cost, as well as to help in research and innovation among post graduate students in the public universities.
They added that, they were ready to embark on further actions that will put pressure on government so as to release their money on time.
Speaking on Kasapa FM’s ‘Si Mi So’ hosted by Kwaku Owusu Adjei, the national president of the association, Raymond Ayilu, said they were experiencing the delay for the first time.
“Normally we start our academic year in August; and so latest by April, students normally receive their bursaries so as to be able to perform their research work with excellence.
“But, as we speak now almost all post graduate students within the public universities have not receive their bursaries,” he stated.
He argued that the money should not be a headache to government since it is not something huge, adding that, majority of the students are frustrated.
Mr Ayilu further stated that the grant is supported by law and every government has the responsibility to honour its part of the constitution.
“Since 1960, both military and civilian governments have all honoured this provision of the constitution; so what happened today that a democratic government is not able to fulfill it constitutional mandate,?” he asked.
He called on government and the scholarship secretariat to expedite action on the release of the grant to graduate students in order to avoid any discomfort for the students.
In order to prevent such occurrences in the future, Mr Ayilu proposed to government to ensure that proper structures are put in place, stating that, “we also want to emphasize that since these monies are paid annually it must be paid in the worse situation, latest by March.”
“Government should shift this responsibility to the Students Loan Trust Fund to handle because they have ready funding,” he suggested.
He further hinted that government should consider the proposed 100% increase due to the worsening condition of living in the country.
“We also, wish to remind government about our proposed 100% increase in the Bursary and Theses grant. This is because costs of living in Ghana have gone up over the years, hence, the current amount paid to graduate students is woefully inadequate,” he said.
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