The Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) has raised concerns over the non-payment of research support grants, commonly known as bursaries, for graduate students.

These grants play a pivotal role in supporting graduate students in their research endeavours, contributing significantly to the advancement of knowledge and overall academic development.

However, over the past two years, the disbursement of these funds has been delayed, causing considerable hardship for numerous graduate students and the entire academic community.

According to affected students, this delay is negatively impacting the entire academic community, as many promising research projects are being hindered, and the overall research output of academic institutions is at risk.

Speaking on the matter, the President of the University of Ghana Chapter for GRASAG, Claudius Angsongna, called for the immediate intervention of the government and other stakeholders on the matter.

“As it stands, we haven’t heard anything; no one seems to care about graduate education in Ghana. When you look at PhD students, sometimes depending on what you’re researching on you spend as much as 30,000 Ghana cedis. You need to go to the lab, you need to go to the field, and you have to do that for one whole year.”

Further speaking, Claudius Angsongna added that the association will be forced to demonstrate if their concerns are not addressed.

“We’re going to liaise with all other institutional heads, then we’ll organize a press conference and a demonstration. That’s our next line of action,” he added.