RELEASE FUNDS FOR PAYMENT OF BURSARIES...

THE University of Cape Coast (UCC) branch of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) has called on the government to release funds for the payment of bursaries and thesis grants to students for the 2007/08 academic year.
This, the association said, would enable students to undertake their research projects.
It expressed dismay at the undue delay in the release of the funds, which, it said, was affecting continued studies at the university.
At a press conference in Cape Coast last Tuesday to press home the demand for the release of funds, the association also called for increase in the bursaries and grants from GH¢127 and GH¢230 to GH¢400 and GH¢600 respectively to reflect the realities and the increasing cost of living.
The president of the branch, Mr Napoleon-Bonaparte Afenyo, said the association was shocked at the inability of the government to pay the grants since May, this year, adding that several follow-up discussions with the Scholarship Secretariat had yielded no positive results.
Mr Afenyo said students were surprised as to why government officials continued to insist on education as a priority, but not much was being done to achieve excellence in higher education.
He said each student spent about GH¢1,500 on a project and so if the little grant which was meant to supplement their contribution was delayed, they became handicapped.
He said the delay had negatively affected some of the students to the extent that they stood the risk of deferring their courses.
He, therefore, called on the government to make good its obligation to the students concerning their projects.