Ghanaians Students Studying in the Diaspora- Let Us Do the Maths
A total of 9,394 students from Ghana ‘managed’ to secure places to study in the United States
of America in the year 2024.
This figure is up from the figure of 6,468 students in 2023.
Without doubt, in previous years if not decades, Ghanaian students have travelled to the United
States and other countries to ‘study’
The Daily Searchlight wonders if any policy maker has sat down to consider the cost to the
Ghanaian economy of these ‘studies’ in foreign countries, with the further question whether the
cost incurred has led to a noticeable improvement in Ghana’s economy.
Are we getting value?
If one adds up the numbers of students who travelled to the United States to study in just 2023
and 2024, one gets a figure 15862 students.
If it is costing Ghana (private and public financing) a miserly one hundred thousand dollars (one
hundred thousand dollars) to put each student through a university in the United States, this
economy must be shelling out over one and a half billion dollars (in just two years) to cater for
this expenditure.
If our estimate of the cost of educating one student being in the region of a hundred thousand
dollars per student is right, then in 2024 alone, Ghana (private and public) shelled out about
$939,400,000.00 (nine hundred and thirty-nine million, four hundred thousand dollars) to cater
for our students in a single year.
That is precious currency flying out of Ghana, to fund American universities.
Given this scenario, it is no wonder that the government of the United States has decided to set
up centres in Ghana to facilitate the process. The government of the United States is making
profit, and keeping its universities alive, with this ‘largesse’.
According to Ms Virginia Palmer, USA Ambassador to Ghana, the centres had helped Ghanaian
students over the past years to receive a total of GHc141 million in scholarships.
It is interesting that Ms Palmer quotes her figure in Ghana Cedis, because it is about a mere $8
million dollars, spread out over years, and not even a single year.
It is the belief of the Daily Searchlight that it is time our policy makers thought hard, and asked
themselves how we can bring our educational system on a par with what is taught elsewhere,
first, and how to make it attractive and productive for our students to study here.
If we are looking for reasons why our economy and currency is sinking, this must be truly one
of them.
(Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of 29 th November, 2024).