Sekondi, May 7, GNA – Despite the over 75,000 Electronic scholarship applications received by the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat for the 2020/2021 academic year, the representations from the Western and Western North Regions are just minimal.
The Ghana Scholarship Secretariat which announced this on Thursday at a press briefing in Sekondi, therefore encouraged interested applicants to quickly log on to the www.scholarshipgh.com portal and follow the three-step application process before May, 15, 2020 deadline.
Mr. Kingsley Agyeman, the Director of the Secretariat, told Journalists that about 70,000 people are expected to be sponsored with tax payers funds for the 2020/2021 academic.
According to him, the Secretariat was expected to spend 80 million cedis this year as against 40 million cedis spent on 32,000 qualified applicants last year.
He said the secretariat decentralized the process of application to ensure transparency and more accessibility.
Ghana according to Him, only has 16 percent of its senior high school graduate proceeding to the tertiary level which over the years had affected the manpower and technical level with its resultant effects on the rapid socio-economic dynamics of the country.
Mr Agyeman noted that the scholarship was therefore to open up to many students who may have the potentials but due to the lack of money, they were not able to advance in education and knowledge to contribute positively to the development of the country.
“The President, Akufo-Addo has therefore seen the need to give good meaning to the SDGs Four on quality education,” he added.
Mr Wilson Arthur, the Dean of the MMDCEs in the Regions, said empowering lives to transform Ghana was critical.
He therefore entreated his colleagues to make available all technical assistance to students wanting to apply to increase the numbers in the Region.
GNA