Parliament set to pass National Scholarship Authority Bill this week
15th July 2025
Parliament is poised to pass the National Scholarship Authority Bill by the end of this week, a significant move toward overhauling Ghana’s scholarship system and enhancing oversight.
This legislative action comes in response to a growing controversy involving nearly 200 Ghanaian students at the University of Memphis in the United States.
These students are facing academic dismissal, visa issues, and eviction due to unpaid tuition and housing fees. The fees were supposed to be covered under a 2023 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the university and the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, which allocated $3.6 million for this purpose.
Speaking on Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Chairman of Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, confirmed that the scandal has triggered swift legislative action.
“Some of the students are being asked to leave the country, and some have been evicted from their hostels. What is worrying now is that we need to investigate how these scholarships were awarded because you’ll find that the process was plagued by corruption and nepotism,” he stated.
In response to the crisis, Mr. Nortsu-Kotoe revealed that President John Mahama has ordered the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to be moved under the Ministry of Education for better management and oversight.
“That is why the President has directed that the scholarship sector should now go under the Ministry of Education for effective supervision,” he noted.
Mr. Nortsu-Kotoe further disclosed that the Minister for Education has presented the National Scholarship Authority Bill to Parliament, which aims to reform the current scholarship framework.
The bill, which is under review by the Education Committee, proposes the establishment of a board that will oversee scholarship awards and ensure greater transparency in the process.
“We sat on the bill yesterday, and I can assure you that by the end of the week, we should be able to pass the National Scholarship Authority Bill. This will allow for the creation of a board to monitor scholarship awards and streamline activities,” he said.