Today, the Minister for Finance, Mr. Seth Tekpeh shall on behalf of the President of the Republic of Ghana, be presenting the 2015 budget and fiscal policy statement of the Government of Ghana to the entire nation through our representatives in Parliament.
Many industry players and economic analysts have predicted that the budget shall seek to tackle a wide range of issues affecting almost every facet of national life including the current economic, water and energy crisis, as well as issues confronting the health and education sectors. The budget is expected to contain pragmatic plans that government intends to roll out in the short to medium term with the view to mitigating the sufferings of the Ghanaian masses.
It is in this light that the leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) wishes to bring to the attention of government and for that matter the managers of the Ghanaian economy, some of the nagging issues of concern to students which require immediate attention. Among other things, the union expects government to give further and better particulars with relative to the establishment of a public university in the Eastern Region as well the construction of 100 Senior High Schools in 2015 as pledged in previous budgets and state of the nation’s address.
The union has also observed with great disquiet the bemoaning state of the once vibrant GETFund which is now facing a lot of challenges due to inadequate funding from the central government; even though there have always been annual budgetary allocations to the Fund. For instance, in the 2013 budget statement, an amount of GH¢ 730 million was approved by the Parliament of Ghana for GETFund as its yearly budgetary allocations.
However, the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance managed to release only GH¢ 130 million (representing less than 18% of the approved amount) to the GETFund Authorities to undertake their planned projects and programs including meeting some of the urgent infrastructural needs of public schools as well as catering for the educational expenses of Ghanaian students who are studying abroad on GETFund scholarship but are now being threatened with imminent dismissals from their respective institutions due to non-payment of fees.
It appears GETFund was even lucky last year to have had a little over 17% of what it was due; because for 2014, GETFund is yet to be disbursed with a dime out of the total budgetary allocation of GH¢ 400 million as contained in the 2014 budget statement. It is therefore not surprising that if you visited most of our tertiary institutions, you would realise that almost all GETFund projects have stalled completely; a development which has now compelled some school authorities to surcharge students as a desperate measure to raise funds for the completion of such projects.
It is therefore the wish of the union that the 2015 budget contains pragmatic steps to be taken by government to ensure the timely release of the arrears due GETFund as recently ordered by the court to enable the authority to effectively discharge its mandate to the students of Ghana.
In similar vein, NUGS expects government to announce plans of meeting its statutory financial commitments for the school feeding program, subventions to SHS’, caterers of the school feeding programme and the likes which have remained in arrears for a while now.
Last but not the least, it is also the expectation of NUGS that government would announce realistic plans to reduce the cost of doing business in the country and expand the Ghanaian economy with the view to creating more jobs for the teeming youth. We least expect government to introduce any new taxes but rather broaden the existing tax net to cover both the formal and informal sectors to ensure equity in our tax regime.
In conclusion, it is the union’s fervent hope and anticipation that the government would indeed turns its mind to these nagging issues raised above and address them accordingly in the interest of the ordinary Ghanaian student.
Aluta Continua! Victoria Ascerta!
Long live NUGS
Long live Mother Ghana
Signed;
Rhodalyn Eshun
Press and Information Secretary
0246701359
