Government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), has awarded new scholarships to 4,279 students schooling in the various universities and colleges in Ghana.

The awardees span the respective programmes of undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

This year’s figure represents an increase of 63 per cent of successful applicants compared with the 2,704 recipients for 2022.  

The breakdown of the awardees according to the type of degrees and programmes are as follows: a total of 2,951 are pursuing Diploma or Degree programmes whereas 1,328 beneficiaries are reading Master’s or PhD programmes in the private and public colleges/universities all in Ghana.

Also, 1,963 representing 46 per cent of awardees are studying Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related programmes.

While 2,316 representing 54 per cent of awardees are studying Humanity-related programmes.    

The Fund, as of Tuesday, August 2, 2023, has paid the total sum of GH₵‎25,278,029.39 of fees allotted to awardees into the accounts of their institutions.

In December 2022, GETFund advertised to the general public inviting prospective applicants to apply for the local scholarships via its online portal created for the receipt of scholarship applications and the management of same.

A total of 22,000 applicants were successfully submitted. The overwhelming show of interest in the scholarships prompted the Board of Trustees of the Fund to increase the available slots to the current high number of 4,279 recipients.

It must be noted that as of Tuesday, August 2, 2023, about 300 successful applicants have still not accepted the scholarship offers sent to them via their email addresses.

However, efforts have been made to contact them.

Hence, the Fund is unable to process their documentation for further action.