The Administrator of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), Dr. Richard Ampofo Boadu, has debunked claims the Fund makes scholarship reservations to politicians.
Dr. Boadu said all the application processes were consciously and completely moved online to eliminate any human interference and influence.
Speaking to Umaru Sanda Amadu on Face To Face on Citi TV, Dr. Boadu said there is a panel that sits to vet and interview all applications, and it is nigh impossible to get to influence all members on the panel.
He also said the adoption of the online application system was deliberate because “in order for us not to be seen as giving scholarships to party members, we do everything online, so we don’t even get physical applications.”
“Everything is done online and when it is done online, I don’t think if somebody is submitting something online, they can attach it with a letter from the Minister because those are not things we require.”
When asked about the criteria for choosing students in order to save the country some money and not send them to study courses they can readily study in Ghana, Dr. Boadu said, “they [students] are chosen based on the program they were going to study abroad.”
He added that an average of 250 students are sponsored each year to study abroad, with over 2,000 sponsored domestically.
He also debunked rumors of the annual non-payment of stipends and fees of students abroad, saying those challenged students are not GETFund-sponsored students because the Fund will always arrange a payment schedule with the students before they leave to ensure they don’t get stranded in the host country.
“Even before students go, we tell them that we are going to pay 50 percent of their fees. When you go, we give you 30 percent of your stipend at a definite time, we tell you the second and the third stipends will follow.”
