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Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, apart from bringing pragmatic policies to the education ministry has also been credited with leading the decentralization and digitization of scholarships in Ghana.

Making the disclosure during a media tour on some radio stations in the Ashanti region last week, the Registrar of Scholarships, Mr. Kingsley Agyemang, said the inexorable efforts by the Minister of Education has really catapulted the Scholarship Secretariat into one of the formidable state agencies which must be applauded.

“The concept of decentralization is the baby of Napo which was birthed as far back as 2018,” he said.

“Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh was so passionate to seeing to the realization of the decentralization of scholarship awards that he even appointed his deputy, Dr Adutwum, to represent him at the launch in Takoradi last year,” Mr. Agyemang said on Virgin City radio at Konongo.

Radio tour

Mr. Agyemang was in the Ashanti region to throw more light on the decentralization and digitization of the operations of the Scholarships Secretariat.

Some of the radio stations he visited include Ashh FM, Hello FM, Nhyira FM, Adehye FM, Virgin City radio, Wontumi TV and radio.

In an interview with Hello FM, Mr Agyemang stated that the decentralization of the scholarship after a year has been embraced by all.

“When you look at SDG 4, it talks about accessibility and quality education. So, in 2018 we started with the decentralization at the regional level and with good feedback, Dr Opoku Prempeh suggested that we take it to the district level,” he said.

According to Mr. Agyemang, just last year alone, 32,850 students benefitted from the policy.

The local tertiary which has been decentralized pays for the tuition fees of all deserving students in any accredited tertiary institution in Ghana, including private tertiary institutions from diploma to doctorate degree levels.

Digitization

With the successful implementation of the decentralization policy, there was the need to move it to another level, which was the digitization in the award of scholarships.

“What this means is that although the scholarship has been brought to the district, all one needs to do is just click on a button and access scholarships at www.scholarshipgh.com,” he said.

He said this policy will also go a long way to help more students apply for scholarships especially with the ease to use the manner of the website.

Process

Explaining the process in the online application, he said the three-phase system involves first providing a biodata which takes less than five minutes, after which a successful applicant will be notified and then given another two weeks to undertake an aptitude test which will determine whether the applicant will appear before the District Review Committee to be interviewed or not.

The Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Tuesday, March 31, launched the Scholarship Secretariat’s Online Scholarship Application and Administration System in Accra.

The whole exercise which began April 1, will end on May 15.