George Opare Addo, the Youth Development and Empowerment Minister, has revealed that the country owes over GH¢700 million in unpaid scholarship debt.
According to George Opare Addo, the situation threatens the future of Ghanaian students abroad.
He revealed that an audit is being carried out, and once that is done, they will see the actual picture.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, George Opare Addo stated, ““The current bill that I have is over ¢700 million in debt that we have to find money to pay. There is a debt of fees that we have across the world. And so my registrar now has to go around the world and negotiate with schools, and that is what we’ve been undertaking in the last four, five months.”
“You keep getting threats all over the world: ‘We are going to sack your students’. So almost every time he’s out there, pleading, renegotiating how much we can afford and how much we can pay,” the Minister explained.
He added, “The Chief of Staff has been very helpful. With the Finance Minister and the Chief of Staff, we are working closely to offset the debt… So yes, we will pay, but we have to negotiate.”
“They know that we are a new government that has come in. We inherited these problems, and so we are aligning and fixing them gradually.”
George Opare Addo emphasised that the Mahama government cannot be blamed for the mess, as most of the debts have been outstanding for a year or two.
The minister added, “A lot of the students have opted out. We held a meeting with some of them in London and gave them some options.”
“Somebody might have finished school for two years, and the government still owes him or her stipends, but per the law, once you finish, you must come back home. And a lot of them want to remain there.”
George Opare Addo further lamented about student refusal to come back home once their study is over, “If I pay your fees, you must come back and help. So, do you want to stay? If you are going to stay there, I’m not going to pay your stipends, because you have done with school already.”
“Once the audit team finishes all its work, we’ll have a clearer picture. But as of now, the bill we have seated on our tables is more than over ¢700 million”, he said.
Speaking of Foreign scholarship, George Opare Addo asserted that the State must not spend money sending students abroad if those courses are taught locally.
He added. “That is what we have currently, as in the proposal in the bill, and Parliament will have to look at it and decide.”
