Secretary for International Relations for the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Joshua Nakpri has called on the Ministry of Education and the Scholarship Secretariat to respond to the calls of Ghanaian students abroad whose educational rights are at stake due to unpaid fees and stipends.
This succeeds a recent press release by NUGS, where they had earlier demanded the Scholarship Secretariat for the payment of arrears in fees and stipends of Ghanaian students abroad.
It was noted in the statement that the union had received numerous calls from various students stating that their debt has not been cleared leaving a heavy burden on students.
Speaking on campus exclusive, the NUGS secretary reiterated the appeal with emphasis on the students’ current plight.
“We are appealing to scholarship secretariat; we are appealing to Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education…our people in the diaspora are really struggling and that experience is very bad. We are pleading with them to address the issue as early as possible because Friday people have their papers being expired.”
Mr. Nakpri further revealed that despite numerous attempts to engage with the Scholarship secretariat, no resolution has been reached as they have been unable to meet the heads to have a discussion, hence their plans to demonstrate to demand actions.
“Our first letter was sent to the scholarship secretariat in November. We had no response. We followed up with another letter on the 7th of December. No response. So right now we are hitting the media, and we are planning a demonstration because if we don’t do it for our brothers in the diaspora, they can’t leave the diaspora, come here and demonstrate for themselves. They did not leave this country based on their family resources or based on where they can get money and pay their students or their school fees. They left because they qualified for a government scholarship which was meant to fund them.”
Joshua Nakpri indicated that some students in the diaspora are at a risk of losing their student visas if swift actions are not taken.
” As we speak, their school fees have not been paid. So instead of people graduating and then they will give them certificates, they have graduated and then they’ve been given debt to come and pay.”
“Every country has its own laws. If you are studying in the UK on a scholarship as a student, you are using a student visa. It is just one year so once that visa is expired you have to show proof of your completion before the visa can be renewed . Now your certificate has not been given to you. How do you renew your visa? People’s visa will expire this Friday. If they don’t pay the fees, they wouldn’t get their certificates. Some people are highly stranded and then they might be deported as illegal migrants if they don’t have any proof. “
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Story by: Michelle Lartey | univers.ug.edu.gh
