Ghanaian students studying in Hungary on scholarships through the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme are struggling as the government has not paid their stipends for the past eight months.
The situation has caused some students to be evicted from their apartments due to their inability to pay rent.
Speaking to Raymond Nyamador on the Happy Morning Show (HMS) President of the Ghana students in Hungary Evans Agyemang Duah said for 8 months, the government has failed to pay the students their monthly stipend which they depend on for feeding and rent.
According to him, this has made many of the Ghanaian students stranded as they face starvation and accommodation challenges.
He revealed that letters written to appropriate authorities have proven futile.
Many have had to combine work with their studies, which has been difficult due to the lack of flexible and well-paying student jobs in Hungary.
He appealed to the government to focus on paying the stipends so that the students could focus on their studies, which was the primary reason for their being in Hungary.
The Scholarship is under the Hungarian Stipendium Hungaricum programme with about 150 Ghanaian students currently captured under the scheme.
Under this programme, the Hungarian government pays the tuition fees for students from Ghana at all levels of study comprising Bachelors, Masters and PhDs. Tuition fees have not been a problem for students.
The government of Ghana provides monthly stipend ranging between 250 and 500 US dollars, depending on the level of study and the year the student started his/her studies. Students are also entitled to a yearly book allowance of 350 US dollars.
The convention is that the Scholarship Secretariat which manages the scholarship scheme pays the stipend quarterly. Thus, January to March stipends are paid in March, April to June stipends in June, July to September stipends in September, and October to December stipends in December.