Former PRO Vice-Chancellor of the University for Development Studies Prof. David Millar is calling for the replacement of the teacher and nursing trainee allowance with a loan scheme.
Speaking in an interview with Breakfast Today’s host James Nana Tsiquaye, the educationist argued that instituting a loan scheme or establishing a students’ bank will be a better way to assist the trainees and others seeking higher education in the country than the current arrangement.
“I think there should be a burden sharing arrangement. And for me to burden share is to create a fund like a student loan scheme, expand it, make sure the money is there.
And even if they have to pay plus interest, so be it. Or the government can now say we would take the interest part so it becomes an interest free loan. That for me works,” he stated.
His advocacy comes on the back of ongoing brouhaha over the payment of the trainee allowance.
Vice-President Dr. Bawumia, on his ongoing campaign tour across the country, boasted about the restoration of the payment of the stipend by the New Patriotic Party’s government and asked voters not to elect his main contender in the upcoming elections because he could not be trusted to continue to honour such financial commitment.
But a student at one of his engagements dubbed Youth Connect drew his attention to the fact that the payment of the allowance is in arrears and sought to find out when government would settle the arrears.
The Vice-President, who appears to have been taken aback, assured of following up on the issue and has since announced that funds would be released today April 16, 2024 to clear the outstanding allowances.
The revelation has also sparked public conversation about the government’s commitment to honouring the payment of the allowance.
For some, it was just a political gimmick to win votes.
Sharing his view on the issue, Prof. Millar, who is president of the Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Cultural Studies, suggested that the current arrangement is not sustainable.
He said while it is important that the state support the education of its citizens, a more pragmatic scheme like a credit facility or a bank should be established to ensure guarantee flow of funds to support students needing assistance.
He further took on the two main political parties for playing politics with the issue instead addressing head-on.
