Days where scholarships were managed in opacity will end soon — Eduwatch on new bill

Education think tank, Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), has welcomed the newly introduced Ghana Scholarship Authority Bill.

Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Eduwatch, stated that the days when scholarship applications were handled from the Office of the President without any legal framework, will soon be over.

In a social media post on Tuesday, July 8, Mr Asare disclosed that his outfit submitted a memo to the previous NPP government in 2024 but received no response.

The same proposal, he noted, was later submitted under the NDC government and has now resulted in the introduction of the bill.

“In April 2024, Africa Education Watch submitted a proposal to the government for the establishment of a Scholarship Authority, aimed at reforming a non-accountable public scholarship system that served mainly political party loyalists. No response!

“In September 2024, we engaged the NPP and NDC manifesto committees on the same issue. In April 2025, we submitted a memo to the Ministry of Education,” he said.

He added that the laying of the bill marks a step toward reforming and ensuring accountability in scholarship management.

“Today, the Minister for Education has laid a Scholarship Authority Bill before Parliament to reform, deepen accountability and meritocracy in the management of public scholarships.

“The days where scholarships were managed under the Office of the President, in opacity, without a legal framework, accountability, or meritocracy, will soon be history. This is progress!” he added.

The new bill seeks to address nepotism and cronyism in scholarship administration, which often benefits the rich instead of the poor.

It also aims to elevate the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat into an Authority.