By Martin Cole-
A number of Ghanaian students in the United Kingdom under the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat are said to be stranded as they have not received their monthly stipends for over 8 months.
An online petition calling for government’s assistance to rescue the group has been setand some of the students have been dismissed from their schools while others are being chased by their schools and landlords to pay their rent.
“Others have had to overstay because they cannot get money to go back to their country. Some have been sued by their landlords for refusal to pay rent,” the petition noted.
Meanwhile, the Scholarship Secretariat in responding to the matter urged the students to remain steadfast and avoid engaging in any illegal act which could lead to embarrassing the country.
“As we conclave to consider strategies, we urge our scholars globally to forswear any acts of wrongdoings that will result in embarrassment to the Government of Ghana.
“In reality, this is the time to exhibit the real character of resilience as a Ghanaian and we advise that Scholars remain steadfast to the terms and conditions of the scholarship award even in the face of these challenges,” a statement from the Secretariat noted.
The Secretariat assured that it will meet students through its “Time with the Registrar” series to discuss the course of action to settle arrears and scholarship commitments.
Ghana is one of the most organised African countries in resolving issues for its nationals abroad. The country is amongst a few whose secondary schools are participating in research to establish comparative levels of academic standards in the world.
However, researchers have established that its high education standards makes for too many weak students in a majority of its schools.
Fewer than half the students passed the school leaving exam, leaving just 8% of students in high standard secondary schools passing their end of school exams, most who belong to schools in the top 20 %of high quality and standards.
Research shows that 46% of the students who qualify for tertiary education in Ghana are from the top 20% of senior high schools. Only 8% of students from the bottom 20% of the schools qualify for tertiary education.
Students in highly valued schools reported that they were motivated to learn and preferred to stay in their schools because of the prestige, quality of teachers, high academic abilities of their peers, and the availability of education resources that promoted lifelong learning.
However, students from the best schools also record poor performances because of the high standards of academic materials.
Those fortunate enough to do well at the end of their secondary years have a feeling of fulfilment and many times, superiority over their les successful peers, motivating them to achieve greatly at university when they go abroad.