The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has disbursed GH₵25.2 million (GH₵25,278,029.39) as scholarship grants to beneficiary students for the 2022/2023 academic year.
In all about 4,279 students representing 98% of scholarship awarded over the period by the fund benefited from the disbursement.
The awardees cut across respective programme of study at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and would be on the scholarship till the end of their programmes.
Administrator of GETFund, Mr Richard Boadu said the number of scholarships awarded this year represent an increase of 63% of successful applicants compared to the 2,704 awardees last year.
He explained that out of the 4, 279 beneficiaries, 2,951 are pursuing diploma or degree programmes while, 1,321 are pursuing masters and PhD programmes.
Mr Boadu noted that the beneficiaries included those in public and private tertiary institutions from across the country.
With the specific studies they are pursuing, he said 1,963 of the students representing 46% are pursuing Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related programmes while the others are studying other programmes across the spectrum.
Mr Boadu said the Fund, as of Tuesday August 2, 2023, had paid the total sum of fees allotted to awardees into the accounts of accredited colleges and universities.
Touching on the process, the Administrator said in mid-November 2022, the fund advertised to the general public, inviting prospective applicants to apply for the local scholarships through its online portal.
He said the online portal was created solely for the reception of scholarship applications and the management of same.
Following the opening of the portal, he said about 22,000 applications were received, adding that “The overwhelming show of interest in the scholarships prompted the Board of Trustees of the Fund to increase the available slots to the current high numbers of 4,279 recipients.”
Mr Boadu said as of August 2, this year, about 300 of successful applicants had not accepted the scholarship offers sent to them via their email addresses.
In view of this, he said the Fund is unable to process their documentation for further disbursement.
He explained that though the deadline to accept the offer which was sent to applicants in June 2023 has expired, a window of opportunity exists for the 300 yet to take up the offer.
Mr Boadu stated that any applicant who fails to accept the offer by the end of the academic year loses it completely for good.
He lamented that due to budgetary constraints, GETFund has not awarded foreign scholarships over the past two years.
