The Minister of Education, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has announced plans to lay before Parliament the Ghana Scholarship Authority Bill, aimed at reforming the country’s scholarship system.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish a Ghana Scholarship Authority to replace the current Scholarship Secretariat while enhancing transparency in the selection processes for awarding scholarships to Ghanaian students.
“I am happy to announce that I will be introducing in Parliament within the next few weeks, the Ghana Scholarship Authority Bill on behalf of the President, as he pledged to the Ghanaian people to address issues of nepotism and cronyism in the scholarship award system,” Mr Iddrisu noted.
He made the announcement at the 2024 West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Distinction Awards ceremony held in Accra on Thursday.
The annual event honours Ghanaian students who excel in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
According to the Minister, as part of the new bill, all WAEC distinction awardees would automatically benefit from government scholarships.
He added that the number of awardees would also be increased from the current three to 10.
“All awardees, including the overall best performing candidate in WASSCE every other year will be determined solely by WAEC and will qualify for President Mahama’s scholarship,” the Minister elaborated.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the selection process would be free from external interference, with the 10 top-performing students receiving full scholarships under the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), administered by the soon-to-be-established Scholarship Authority.
Mr Iddrisu urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) and WAEC to collaborate in restoring the country’s academic calendar to its original structure, which was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are not particularly happy that since COVID-19, our academic calendar has affected the seamless transition of students to the next stage of their career development.
I urge the GES and WAEC to work together to restore an acceptable calendar; one that is in sync with the rest of the West African system,” he stressed.
Touching on the broader educational reforms, the Minister emphasised that the sector must not only focus on improving literacy and numeracy but also on building character among students.
He, therefore, charged the GES to enforce discipline in schools and deal decisively with students who engage in misconduct, assuring them of the state’s full support in restoring a culture of discipline in the country’s education system.
The Head of National Office, WAEC, Dr Rosemond Wilson, bemoaned the growing cases of malpractices often recorded during WASSCE and BECE every academic year.
She thus called for collective efforts in addressing the issue while commending the various security agencies for ensuring that culprits in examination malpractices were apprehended.
Meanwhile, the overall best WASSCE 2024 candidate in Ghana as well as the best candidate in the General Science programme went to Mr David Niii Commey Ankrah, a past student of the Hope College in the Central Region.
He was presented with cash prizes from Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, the sponsors of the award.
Also, Mr Henschel Tabi Frimpong-Manso, from the Kade Senior High Technical School and Mr Debrah Benedict Ofori, from the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, occupied the second and third positions, respectively.
Other awardees were Ms Ameera Issifu (Best Candidate, General Science), Mr Uriel Yeboah Afrah, (Best Candidate, Business), and Mr Virtues Akye Mensah (Best Candidate, Visual Arts).
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
