As mandated by the Board of Trustees of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) a team made up of two Trustees and two management members paid a monitoring visit to the United Kingdom from 16th November to 2nd December 2021; essentially to meet with the GETFund sponsored students studying at the various Universities in the United Kingdom and also to meet with Members of Faculty of the various universities. The trip is the second of its kind following on the heels of the maiden trip in November 2019.
Objective(s) of the Monitoring Trip to UK
The institutionalisation of a monitoring Team of GETFund sponsored students who study abroad was initiated by this current administration under the Leadership of Dr. Richard Boadu Ampofo, the Administrator of the Fund and was subsequently accepted and approved by the First Board of Trustees, under the Chairmanship of Prof. Dominic Fobih.
- The main objective of this monitoring exercise of GETFund foreign sponsored scholars is to:ensure that the Board of Trustees are abreast with happenings as far as sponsored student’s welfare and wellbeing are concerned.
- ensure efficient use of government resources being spend by the Fund.
- ensure the proper and value for money utilization of the GETFund resources.
- to bring to the fore challenges faced by sponsored students in the foreign countries.
- address immediate concerns of students whiles in their various universities be it financial, academic, or personal challenges.
- encourage students to put up their best and ensure successful completion of their courses.
- interact with faculty members of the various Universities and seek a common path of further collaboration between the Universitas and the GETFund in diverse areas of mutual importance.
- make appeals for waivers on student’s fees to ensure more students are sponsored subsequently.
Universities Visited
Meeting venues were selected based on the population of students in a particular university. The higher the number of students; preference was given to the University as the venue for the meeting whiles other adjunct and closed by universities were asked to join their counterparts. Meeting venues were scheduled as follows:
LONDON & SOUTHERN UNIVERSITIES
University of Brunel London:
There are fourteen (14) students who enrolled and are being sponsored by GETFund.
University of West England:
Seven sponsored students are enrolled and are being sponsored by the GETFund. However, four (4) students from Middlesex University, three (3) students from Queen Mary University and one (1) from University of Warwick joined their colleagues at West England, Bristol for the interactive meeting.
MIDLANDS UNIVERSITIES
University of Nottingham:
was the meeting centre with an enrollment sponsored students of 8, joined by students from Sheffield Hallam University (2), University of Derby (2) and Loughborough University (2).
NORTH UNIVERSITIES
University of Central Lancashire (UCLaN) :
with students from University of Manchester, University of Liverpool and University of Bradford joining their UCLan Colleagues.
Robert Gordon University :
The monitoring team held its final meeting at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen Scotland where Twenty-Four (24) sponsored students at University of Aberdeen attended in their numbers. Robert Gordon University with only two sponsored students granted the team permission to hold the meeting on its premises which was very successful. Other sponsored students from University of Stirling, were also part of the meeting.
