Minister-nominee for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced plans to create a dedicated website to make bilateral scholarship opportunities more accessible to Ghanaians.

Speaking before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Friday, January 31, Mr Ablakwa expressed concern that many scholarships offered by foreign governments go unused due to a lack of awareness.

“Scholarships are a very important matter. Many times, at diplomatic engagements, I am told that they have scholarship slots for Ghanaians, but we are not applying. Moving forward, we need to pay serious attention to these bilateral scholarships,” he stated.

Recalling his experience as a former Deputy Minister in charge of Tertiary Education, Mr Ablakwa highlighted the success of the Hungarian bilateral scholarship programme, which allows 100 Ghanaians to study in Hungary every year. He noted that such initiatives help ease the financial burden on state institutions like the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the Scholarship Secretariat.

To ensure transparency and accessibility, Mr Ablakwa proposed a centralised online platform. “We will create a dedicated website where all these scholarships will be published, along with the application criteria.

We will also assign dedicated officers to assist applicants. Too many of these opportunities go unnoticed, and by the time people find out, the deadline has passed,” he said.

He cited countries such as the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea, which have bilateral scholarship agreements with Ghana, but whose offers are not fully utilised.

“This is a matter that will receive urgent attention. We will demystify the process, create a dedicated platform, and assign officers to facilitate access,” he assured.

Beyond scholarships, Mr Ablakwa also proposed reviewing the passport fee structure to support brilliant but needy students.

“We should consider exempting brilliant but needy students from paying passport fees. Frequent travellers, business people, and wealthier applicants can pay slightly higher fees for expedited services to subsidise the vulnerable,” he suggested.

He emphasised that these initiatives would make scholarship opportunities fairer and more accessible.