A Ghana government scholarship scheme has reportedly failed to fulfill its financial obligations, leaving hundreds of Ghanaian students in the UK with unpaid tuition fees and struggling with living costs.
The UK National Union of Students (NUS) have called on university leaders to provide a hardship fund for Ghanaian students cut off from scholarship funding.
Signed by Aberdeen student leaders, the petition states:
“Students are facing severe financial hardship through no fault of their own because of payment of a scholarship funded by the Ghanaian government being delayed indefinitely.
“Some students have already had their student status revoked and visa sponsorship withdrawn due to unpaid fees, and they face eviction from housing they can’t afford and possible deportation from the UK without the qualifications they have studied so hard for.”
UK-based Ghanaian students have told The Gaudie that they are unable to pay tuition fees and rent. A student at one UK University shared:
“My fees were not paid on time so my University withdrew its sponsorship. This affected my visa status as the UK Home Office curtailed my visa. I went through depression. There was no financial support from GSS (Ghana Scholarship Secretariat), and I didn’t get much support from the University either.”
In September 2024, BBC News Pidgin reported that over 400 students had been left abandoned by the GSS scheme over the past couple of years.
Addressing local media in 2023, Kingsley Agyemang, registrar of the scholarship scheme made a public plea to the Ghanaian Ministry of Finance who fund the scheme, asserting that:
“It is not good enough to award scholarships and not be able to pay the liabilities. It causes a lot of headaches because the last thing the government will want to see is a Ghanaian stranded abroad.”
Despite the GSS’ recognition of the issue, it seems little has improved for those already in the UK. Speaking to The Gaudie, another student from Ghana in the UK told us of the reality of the situation:
“I keep receiving emails from [my University] concerning unpaid tuition fees and accommodation fees. GSS’ commitment to my tuition fees and stipends has not been fulfilled.
“This has affected my studies because I’m always concerned that I can be locked out of my portal at any time. I keep getting reminders from my accommodation demanding rent, which has been distracting me a lot from my studies.”
The open letter from the NUS asks universities to “put support in place for these students through hardship funds.”
Another report from The Fourth Estate details the story of a student in London who was thousands of pounds in debt to friends and family in Ghana to finish her studies, with another unable to afford the flight back home.
This comes amid reports of fraud and allegations of an unfair scholarship system, which allegedly overlooks deserving applicants from financially deprived backgrounds in favour of those with connections. Damning data revealed a number of students receiving multiple scholarships in two consecutive years or in a single year.
Ghanaian politician Clement Apaak claims that over £17 million was owed to students, with a number of students withdrawing from their studies:
“This is a very dire situation, which is leading to some students engaging in very despicable and humiliating activities just to survive,” Apaak said, adding: “some of the male students have had to resort to selling their sperm and some of the female students are engaged in prostitution.”
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo oversaw a reduction in scholarship funding as his final term drew to a close. It is yet unclear if a new government under President John Maham, inaugurated on 7th January, will re-establish funding for students left behind by the GSS.
The Gaudie has contacted the GSS scheme and the Ghanaian embassy in London for comment, but did received a response.
The NUS petition says that the failure of universities to fund tuition fees and living costs of the abandoned students “would represent a failure in universities’ duty of care towards their students.”
The University of Aberdeen did not respond for comment.
