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The Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat Kingsley Agyemang has assured that monies for this term’s feeding grants to schools of the three regions of the North will soon be paid to schools.

According to him, government had already cleared the third term arrears for 2015/2016.

Speaking to Joy News after monitoring schools in the region to ascertain their capacity to take more students and to assess problems facing the schools, the Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat said he is optimistic that the second and third term arrears for 2016/2017 academic year will soon be paid.

Mr. Agyemang said monies for this academic year will hit the accounts of the school before the schools settle for academic work, adding that this would be the first time in the history of Ghana that schools in the country will receive their feeding grants beforehand.

He said government is working hard to be on time, saying that as a signatory to the free SHS accounts, he knows the money is ready and it’s just the matter of disbursing it to the various accounts.

Mr. Agyemang dismissed misconceptions that government would scrap the scholarship for continuing students in the three regions of the north under the government scholarship programme.

He said that is not going to happen and assured the students to dismiss the claim.

He also dismissed claims that government was going to take charge of procurement of foodstuffs, school uniforms and other materials relevant for the successful implementation of the free SHS adding that government is only taking charge of the distribution of text books, exercise books among some few items.

Mr. Agyemang said the scholarship secretariat will continue to engage schools to ensure the free SHS succeeds. He said the schools also have a role to play to ensure the policy succeeds, noting that free SHS programme is not just a political mantra for a particular political party but the NPP was just giving real meaning to what the constitution of Ghana says.

Responding to agitations of delays in the disbursement of scholarship funds to students on government scholarships in foreign lands, Mr. Agyemang said previously there were so many outstanding arrears but government has been able to clear most of them and believes that very soon they will clear all outstanding arrears.

He said when this is done they will not have issues of students on government scholarship agitating for their scholarship funds.

Mr. Agyemang however denied that all of the students who picket at various embassies and agitate over delays of the disbursement of the funds are on government scholarship.

He further explained that some of the students go on, their own and when situations get bad for them, they begin pilling pressure on government to intervene.