GRASAG calls for release of thesis grant

Page 31
26-09-08

THE Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) has called on the government to immediately release the 2007-2008 academic year thesis and bursary grants.
In addition, it has demanded a 100 per cent increase in the grants, effective the 2008-2009 academic year, to meet the increasing cost of goods and services.
"The inexplicable delay in disbursing the 2007-2008 academic year thesis and bursary grants to graduate students in Ghana speaks eloquently about how the government perceives graduate education. The 2008-2009 academic year has begun and is into its second month now but the thesis and bursary grants for 2007-2008 academic year are yet to be paid," the National President of GRASAG, Mr Michael Adusei, said at a press conference in Accra.
He said GRASAG would advise itself if the government failed to release the 2007-2008 grants by October 15, 2008, adding that a lot of efforts had been made to facilitate their payment.
He said, for instance, that press releases, press conferences and radio interviews, complemented with incessant visits to the offices of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the Scholarship Secretariat and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, "have all been employed as weapons to move the government to pay the grants".
Mr Adusei said a petition sent to the Chief of Staff on the delay in the disbursement of the grants had yielded no response and asked whether or not the grants had been abolished.
"Currently, the bursary grant, which is paid uniformly to all postgraduate students who complete the bond forms, stands at GH¢230 per year for a maximum period of five years for PhD programmes and three years for Master's programmes," he said.
The thesis allowance, he said, was paid once in a year in a graduated way to postgraduate students as MA/MSC/MBA/LLM/PGDip, GH¢69; MPhil, GH¢172.50, PhD, and GH¢287.50 and said "we believe the above figures do not reflect economic realities, for which reason we are asking the government to review them so that they will fulfil their intended purpose of promoting graduate education".
Mr Adusei also announced that disability allowance payable to students with disability in the various institutions was in arrears for three years.
The President of the Disabled Students of the University of Ghana, Mr Bernard Oduro Takyi, who confirmed this, said the situation had resulted in hardship on the part of disabled students.