George Opare Addo is questioning Ghana’s continued preference for foreign scholarships when high-quality education options exist within the country in a radio interview.
The Youth Development and Empowerment Minister called for a shift in how the country thinks about funding education, urging a stronger focus on Ghanaian institutions.
“We can fund you to go to the University of Ghana Business School if that’s the course you want to pursue,” Opare Addo said, highlighting that students shouldn’t have to look outside the country for quality education that is already available at home.
He pointed out that the tendency to send students abroad — sometimes to institutions with lesser reputations than Ghana’s top universities — reflects misplaced priorities.
“What it means is that we have no hope, no confidence in our own institutions. Even some of the schools our students leave Ghana to attend — when you compare their pedigree to UG, KNUST, or UCC — you ask yourself: are we serious at all?”
The minister also praised private Ghanaian institutions like Ashesi University for raising academic standards and challenged the idea that world-class education must be pursued abroad.
“Some of the things Ashesi University is doing — if there’s a need to fund students — we should consider it,” he stated on JoyNews’ PM Express.
“Why should I send a student out of Ghana when Ashesi can do it? Why not give the money to a Ghanaian entrepreneur and keep it circulating within Ghana?”
