Accra, April 17, GNA - Graduate students at the University of Ghana on Friday appealed to government to, as a matter of urgency disburse grants to cover bursaries and grants for thesis for graduate students for the 2008-2009 academic year. Ms. Freda Adu, a representative of the Coalition of Concerned Graduate Students Association of Ghana, called on government to instruct the Scholarship Secretariat to release the grant to help graduate students pay part of their expenditure. Ms Adu, who was addressing a press conference in Accra on challenges confronting graduate students in the University and other government institutions said the delay in the release of the bursaries and thesis grant by government was unacceptable as many students depended solely on them for their academic work. She cited other challenges as poor accommodation facilities, lack of basic infrastructure and research tools and erratic water supply as some of the numerous challenges that hindered quality academic performance of graduate students of the University. She said the disjoint between development and research work of graduate students and the complete absence of urgency when it came to handling matters affecting graduate students needed to be urgently looked at.

Ms Adu said the thesis grant and the bursaries were expected at the beginning of the academic year to help relieve students who were embarking on research works but although the academic year was coming to an end they had not been paid. She also appealed to corporate society and organisations to come to the aid of graduate students and assist them in their projects by giving them contracts in research projects that would meaningfully impact on their work and positively on national development. Mrs Adu noted that most research topics and sample areas given to graduate students for their research projects were abstract and did not positively impact on society.