The PhD Cohort-UK has announced plans for a series of demonstrations across major UK cities
A growing number of Ghanaian PhD students in the United Kingdom have begun formally withdrawing from their doctoral programmes, citing the Ghanaian government’s prolonged failure to settle outstanding tuition fees and living stipends, according to myjoyonline.com report.
According to the report, the students, supported by the Executive Body of the PhD Cohort-UK, have expressed frustration over nearly two years of delayed payments from the Ghana Scholarship Secretariat, which have left many in mounting debt, facing eviction notices, and blocked from accessing university resources.
In response to the crisis, the PhD Cohort-UK has announced plans for a series of demonstrations across major UK cities and at the Ghana High Commission in London. The two-day nationwide protest, scheduled to begin shortly, aims to pressure the Ghanaian authorities to fulfill their financial obligations.
“Our situation has reached a breaking point,” a student, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
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“I am in my final year of research. My university has blocked my library access and my portal. If the fees aren’t paid by the end of this month, my Tier 4 visa will be curtailed, and I will be deported with nothing but debt.”
Despite repeated petitions to the Office of the President at Jubilee House and the Ministry of Finance, the payments to UK universities remain unsettled. Unlike previous years, when universities accepted “letters of comfort” from the Secretariat, many UK institutions are now demanding immediate settlement due to their own budgetary pressures, with some threatening to terminate student visas.
The students have petitioned UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, seeking intervention on humanitarian grounds. The petition stresses that the students’ legal and financial plight stems from a sovereign funding default, not from their academic performance.
AM
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