According to the Scholarship Secretariat, Ghanaian medical students in Ukraine must provide documentation of their ongoing studies in order for their tuition to be paid.
As the government has not paid their tuition since 2021, some students fear they are in danger of being expelled.
The students have been told to send proof of payment, according to Richard Gyamfi, Head of International Relations for the Scholarship Secretariat.
“We have asked the students to provide documents that can provide proof that they are students and still in education because when we compiled the list of beneficiaries, one of their own came to tell us that most of the names on the list are not in school.
“Some decided to go to Germany, while others went to Hungary. So, we said instead of making a blanket payment, they should prove to us that they are still in school because the scholarships are renewed yearly.”
Richard Gyamfi
The students, however, are adamant that the Secretariat has received the required material but has chosen to ignore it.
According to a representative for the upset students, many of their letters to the Secretariat and the Ghanaian Embassy have gone unanswered.
“I have personally sent an email to him [Head of International Relations for the Scholarship Secretariat] and he replied and told me that I should never send an email to him again because he is not responsible for the students.
“I pleaded with him and told him that my situation is critical and it is true that it is not all the 25 of us that are still studying in Ukraine but those that are in a critical situation. And they asked that we provide evidence that we were still studying in Ukraine, we did that but those that they have paid are only people who are politically linked.”
Ukraine Students Rep
A medical student in Ukraine, Seth Ofori Nyazu said all efforts to get their allowances have proved futile.
“The government has not paid our tuition fees, after several meetings, this tuition fees we are crying for help to cover the 2021/2022 academic year. 2020/2021, we were not paid in full, and the secretariat is not responding to our calls, messages and emails.”
Seth Ofori Nyazu
Secretariat Not To Be Blamed
Richard A. Gyamfi, the Head of Diaspora Relations at the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, claims that the Secretariat cannot be held responsible for the failure to pay the stipends and tuition for Ghanaian medical students enrolled in Ukraine.
If the Ministry of Finance does not promptly deliver funding for the students, he claimed, the Secretariat is powerless to intervene. Mr. Gyamfi emphasized that the government’s failure to cover the cost of tuition was not intentional.
“It’s not deliberate that the secretariat is unable to pay the tuition of the students. Releasing funds to the embassy was affected by the war. We had 13 beneficiary students who are under the scholarship secretariat.
“We understand, and we know that we are owing the students, in terms of stipends and tuition. And that is not the fault of the secretariat, because it’s just a vehicle. The Ministry [of Finance] releases funds to us, and we disburse to the students.”
Richard Gyamfi
He stated that after the war settled down a bit, he had a meeting with the students and noticed that most of them had been displaced. “Unfortunately, we had no money then, it’s only last week we received some funds. And we have been able to pay 3 students who are still studying in Ukraine. We have 13 students on our list,” he stated.
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