Some Ghanaian students in Ukraine who are already traumatised by the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war seem doubly burdened as they simultaneously find themselves grappling with financial hardships due to unpaid allowances.

In a heartfelt plea to the Ghanaian government, these students expressed deep concern over the unusual delay in the release of their scholarship funds by the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat.

The students find themselves at risk of being withdrawn from their studies and potentially expelled from their educational institutions due to multiple notices received.

Seth Ofori Nyanzu, a final year student at Donetsk National Medical University in Ukraine, voiced his grievances and called upon the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat to intervene.

Nyanzu shared his personal experience, stating, “I’m a final year student in Ukraine and I happen to be a beneficiary of the Scholarship Secretariat in the year 2019/2020 when I was in my third year.

At that time, I had already been put on the expulsion list, and due to the fact that I did not pay my tuition fee, the school at that time – Donetsk National Medical University, had put me on the expulsion list. During that period, the Scholarship Secretariat had engaged us and had promised that they were going to offer some scholarships to needy students.

Fortunately, I was connected and I got that opportunity to benefit from the secretariat. That year, though the money came very late – that was when we entered 2020, but we were paid in full for 2019/2020, so I didn’t have any issues,” he said.

However, the situation worsened when the Russia-Ukraine war began. Nyanzu explained,

“The one for the 2020/2021 academic year also came but during that time, we didn’t receive the money until we got to the end of the academic year in 2021. They told us they were going to give us the stipend and the book allowances so we waited until that academic year was over and we entered into the 2021/2022 academic year. That was in my 5th year.

“We waited the whole of 2022 but the money didn’t come until we entered into 2022 and they promised they were going to pay. By then, we had had a series of meetings with the secretariat, with our coordinator, even with the scholarship administrator himself. There was even a time he was travelling and at the airport, he promised us that they were going to pay and that already, the money had been sent to the Ghana embassy in Berne and that they were going to pay us within that week that he was speaking with us. That was in January, and unfortunately in February, the war came,” he said.

Additionally, Nyanzu emphasized that due to financial constraints, he and many other disadvantaged students were unable to afford returning to Ghana.

“So, when the war came, there were issues with people moving from places to another, and about two weeks after the war, all lectures resumed normally in Ukraine but online, and for them, they were expecting us to pay our fees because they were offering us lectures. We communicated this to the Scholarship Secretariat, but through it all, after the several, countless meetings with promises after another, then there was an issue of they did not know whether to pay us or not, and that they did not know if we were attending the lectures and the fact that some had returned home and so there was no need for them to pay us.

“They then requested for evidence from us to show that we were still in school and we gave all the necessary documents and evidence, to the extent that we gave them the expulsion lists from the schools. In fact, we tried every other means but the secretariat, led by Hon Kingsley and Hon Joseph Djaba, who’s responsible for the Schengen countries and that of Ukraine, and they added another coordinator, Mr. Richard Gyamfi, several emails have been sent.”

He said while some of his colleagues have received approval for payment, those without political links have been left hanging.

“Sometimes, they have even told us not to text them again and that we should talk to the secretariat. Even those responsible to us are not ready to answer question, they are not willing to talk to us. Unfortunately for us, we only heard that some people among us have been given approval for payment, but for some of us without any strong political links, or someone to make a good case for us, we are left hanging.

“For me, for instance, I am a final year student and I’m just about to write my final exams and graduate, but because I’ve not paid my fees, my school wants to expel me to prevent me from writing my final exams, and for that matter, I may have to repeat one more year. For some of us, we couldn’t come back to Ghana to finish our studies because we only had one more year to complete, and the conditions for people to come to Ghana was that they were not going to admit anybody beyond third year or fourth year,” he added.

In an interview with the media, Nyanzu expressed hope that the Scholarship Secretariat would urgently provide assistance to enable them to complete their education. He pleaded,“…We are pleading through your medium, please the Scholarship Secretariat should pay, at least, some of us that we are depending on this for our survival. The money that is needed if our fees so that we can just graduate in peace because I can’t spend six, seven years in school and because of a year or two – and for two years now, the Scholarship Secretariat has not paid us students from Ukraine anything… and to some extent, we are even being threatened that we shouldn’t go to the media, but yet nothing has been done,” he said.

Source: The Independent Ghana