President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made available an amount of GHC1.5 million to support postgraduate research work, which is the first of its kind in the country’s history.

This was disclosed yesterday by the Registrar of the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat, Mr Kingsley Agyemang, at the launch of the Graduate Research Trust fund held at the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“The commitment of Government in ensuring prompt payment of the thesis and bursary grants is highly unprecedented. The good news here, and the fact that the GRTF has been established during the current political administration, is the demonstration of the premium placed on research and innovation in the quest for national development,” he said

He mentioned that the launch of the Fund, which has been computerised, will ensure transparency, prompt payment and value for money.
“I am happy to also report that the Graduate Research Trust Fund replicates the conference and research allowances of Government sponsored doctorial students and post-doctoral practitioners instituted by the current administration,” he added.

Challenges

He said knowing that students go through a lot of challenges in pursuit of academic endeavours, such as conducting research, conference presentations, attending seminars and publications in high impact journals which affect their work, the Scholarships Secretariat was happy to have received a proposal from the executives of GRASSAG to help set up the Fund.

He further disclosed that an appreciable amount of GHC425,020 has been raised from deduction of disbursement of Thesis and Bursary Grants managed by the Scholarships Secretariat to support post-graduate research in Ghana.

Transparency

Touching more on how the whole process of disbursement will be transparent, the Registrar said after having several meetings with the national executives of GRASSAG, two persons were nominated from GRASSAG to complement the membership of the Education/Scholarship Review Committee of the Scholarships Secretariat.
“I am happy to note that the GRTF Board comprises members from rich academic and professional background and their expertise and experiences would impact positively towards the progress and sustainability of the project. The Scholarships Secretariat therefore looks forward to fruitful collaboration as we move along in the project implementation,” he said.