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The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has rejected claims by the Ministry of Education that students are adequately represented on the Ghana Scholarship Authority Board through a broader civil society grouping.
Speaking to Citi News, NUGS President Rashid Ibrahim Esq. insisted that student representation must be clearly and explicitly provided for by law, not inferred or subsumed under a civil society umbrella.
According to him, existing legislation such as the GETFund Act expressly recognises NUGS as the legitimate representative body of Ghanaian students, and a similar provision should have been included in the Scholarship Authority Act.
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“The laws of this country, including the GETFund Act, recognise NUGS as the voice of students. Representation cannot be assumed or implied. It must be explicitly stated in law,” he stressed.
NUGS is therefore calling for an urgent amendment to the Scholarship Authority Act to guarantee direct student representation on the Board, with a nominee appointed by the Union.
“We need an amendment of the Act to include it and to explicitly provide, unambiguously, that there must be a student representative appointed by NUGS, as it is seen in the GETFund Act. That is what we want, but that was not addressed,” Ibrahim said.
He expressed disappointment that despite assurances from the Ministry, the Act was passed and the Board inaugurated without a student representative.
“We also needed a stakeholder engagement meeting with the minister again; that was also not addressed. We were assured that the Act would be amended and that we would have a representative. To our surprise, the Act has been passed with the Board inaugurated without a student rep. We see it as a betrayal of trust,” he added.
The NUGS president warned that the union would escalate the matter if the Ministry of Education fails to respond promptly.
“If the ministry does not respond to our call, we intend to write an official petition to the President, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education for this issue to be addressed,” he said.
He further cautioned that Ghanaian students would not remain silent on the issue.
“If this matter is not addressed, I don’t think Ghanaian students will allow it to rest, and as president, I will not even feel happy,” Ibrahim stated.
The dispute adds to growing concerns among student groups over participation and stakeholder inclusion in key education governance structures.
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