Former President Jerry John Rawlings has commended the Scholarship Secretariat for the decentralisation of the scholarship process in the country.

The former President noted that the difficulty many deserving students suffer in their bid to obtain scholarships would be a thing of the past if the Secretariat supervises the process adequately to ensure that there was no discrimination.

A statement signed by Mr Kobina Andoh Amoakwa, Head of Communications Directorate of the Office of former President Rawlings and copied the Ghana News Agency, said former President Rawlings made the commendation
during a meeting with Mr Kingsley Agyemang, the Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat and members of his management team in Accra.

"I am impressed that responsibility has been devolved to the Districts. There has been so much prejudice against the scholarship secretariat because of the perception that there is discrimination in the choices made and it only benefits privileged persons. You have to monitor the devolved process otherwise the very thing you are trying to avoid will be repeated," he stated.

"During my tenure as President, I devoted 40 percent of my time to checking corruptible tendencies. That is why I was able to contain corruption. We have difficulties giving fairness a chance in this country with influence often overriding ability and merit. This development makes me feel good and I urge you to give the new process more publicity so deserving students can take advantage of the process.

Mr Agyemang informed the former President that his outfit, working in collaboration with regional and district authorities had devolved the selection process to ensure that deserving students across the country were offered opportunities to obtain scholarships to further their education.

The Registrar said district assemblies would be responsible under stated guidelines for publishing scholarship openings using local information channels.

"Shortlisted applicants will then appear before the District Scholarship Secretariat after which a recommendation would be made to the Central Scholarship Review Committee Secretariat for the award of scholarships."

The Composition of the Review Committee would be made up of the District or Municipal Chief Executives, a representative from the traditional authority, which is very dominant within the district, a representative from the Ghana Education Service or any tertiary institution in the district, and two other representatives to be appointed by the Scholarship Secretariat, he added.

Madam Ebi Bright, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for Tema Central, who was part of the meeting, stated that there was a cultural tendency towards patronage in the country; adding that people who have access to power tend to always compromise situations.

She noted that even with the devolution of the process it is still going to be difficult to balance the good intentions of the Secretariat and urged the Registrar and his team to do their utmost to support local talent and ideas in a fair environment.

Dr Donald Agumenu, an Aide to the former President noted that the Scholarship Secretariat plays an integral role in building human capital and called for a fair distribution of scholarships, adequate and regular evaluation of the process.

Other members of the Scholarship Secretariat at the meeting were Mr Richard Aidoo, the Director of Accounts, Mr Joseph Essah, the Deputy Director, Administration, Ms Grace Afari-Mensah, and Ms Jennifer Evelyn Bedu, Assistant Protocol Officers respectively.

Other members of former President Rawlings' team included Dr Anthony Dzegede, an aide, Kobina Andoh Amoakwa, and Ogochukwu Nweke, an Administrator.