The Member of Parliament (MP) for Asuogyaman, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, has disbursed a total of GH¢300,000.00 to support 200 tertiary students from his constituency .
The initiative, part of the MP’s educational support program, targets both fresh and continuing students from various tertiary institutions every academic year.
At least four applicants were selected from each of the 37 electoral areas in the constituency to ensure fairness and equity in the distribution of the funds.
The beneficiaries include students pursuing diverse programs such as Law, Nursing, Engineering, Medicine, and other disciplines, many of whom were struggling to afford tuition and hostel fees.
“I will like to thank our honourable Thomas Ampem Nyarko for coming through for us because it has not been easy. In fact tertiary education is not easy, the fees now is very very expensive. So he coming in for us is a very big opportunity. So we are so grateful we thank him soo much. We want to see more of these because most of our colleagues are in the house because they don’t have the funds to go to school” one of the beneficiary students said.
Speaking during a brief ceremony at the forecourt of the Asuogyaman District Assembly, the MP reiterated his commitment to supporting education in the constituency.
The MP pledged to mobilize more funds to sustain and expand the initiative, aiming to help more Senior High School graduates transition into tertiary institutions and pursue professional careers.
“It has always been very very difficult for them [ first year tertiary students ] to raise the initial amount and so I have been supporting them every year.So this time I am supporting 200 students with Ghc300,000. Each beneficiary will have at least Ghc1, 500 but some with peculiar challenges will have more.I still have some applications even this morning when some of the people heard that this event was going to take place they brought application and I will process and get support for them”.Said Thomas Ampem Nyarko.
The criticized the former District Chief Executive, Mavis Opokua Akunnor, for blocking the initiative last year due to petty partisan politics in the heat of the election campaign.
He accused her of refusing to sign a cheque for release of portion of his MP’s share of the common fund to support many needy students which left some stranded.
According to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Ghana’s gross tertiary enrollment ratio has steadily increased from 20% to 22% with a gender parity index of 0.95.
The country aims to achieve a gross tertiary enrollment ratio of 40% by 2030.
Thomas Ampem Nyarko believes the NDC’s free tuition policy for first-year tertiary students is a step in the right direction to ensure more SHS graduates access higher education which will increase Ghana’s gross tertiary enrollment from the current 22%.
“It is because of the difficulty people have been going through that the NDC under the leadership of President Mahama sat and realized that the initial payment of admission fees by students is a challenge so government will support them to absorb the initial fees. In the next couple of month we will bring our national budget we now have Finance Minister in place so I believe once we we settle we will begin the process to implement this very very good policy” The MP stated.
