The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) has joined calls for government to halt the fast-tracking of the controversial Scholarship Authority Bill, warning that the proposed legislation could worsen already existing problems of nepotism and lack of transparency in scholarship administration.
Deputy Director of IFEST, Patrick Apea-Danquah, speaking on ABC News GH, said the bill, if passed in its current form, risks entrenching political favoritism in a critical sector meant to uplift Ghana’s most deserving students.
“There is a lot of nepotism when it comes to access to scholarships,” he said.
“Government must come out with a clear cut definition of who qualifies and how they will benefit, or else we will simply be giving legal cover to patronage and misallocation.”
Apea-Danquah stressed the need for broad stakeholder engagement before the bill proceeds, calling for “specific programs and transparent criteria” to be outlined to avoid funds being siphoned into areas where accountability is blurred.
His comments align with concerns raised by the Citizens’ Coalition — a network of civil society groups and prominent individuals — which has petitioned Parliament to suspend the bill’s passage under a certificate of urgency.
In a statement on July 16, the Coalition noted that while legal reforms are necessary, the current draft fails to correct the existing “opacity, nepotism, and political interference” in the scholarship system. They argue that the bill risks institutionalising these problems rather than resolving them.
