Kofi Asare has warned that the National Scholarship Authority Bill, currently under consideration by Parliament, risks entrenching the very problems it claims to fix if passed in its current form.
The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch argued that the bill’s structure gives excessive power to the executive, which could undermine efforts to promote fairness and meritocracy.
“Best practice dictates that faculty reward scholarships or recommend people for scholarships,” Asare said.
“The authority normally regulates the awarding of the scholarship; they set the standard and ensure that the faculty conforms to the standards.”
He cautioned that placing scholarship approval solely in the hands of the executive would be a step backward.
“If the same executive arm of government is approving scholarships, you are not solving the problem—you are just repeating the same thing that was done by the previous government,” he stated on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, July 17, 2025.
Parliament is expected to pass the bill by the end of this week. Chairman of the Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, announced on July 15 that the legislation is aimed at strengthening transparency and oversight in the administration of scholarships across the country.
However, civil society groups and education stakeholders, including Africa Education Watch, are urging lawmakers to reconsider aspects of the bill that centralize power rather than promote a more independent and accountable system.
Kofi Asare emphasized that meaningful reform requires distancing scholarship decisions from political influence. “You can’t expect a different result if you keep repeating the same mistakes,” he noted.
