‘Give us a fuller picture of the level 100 fee waiver policy’ — UTAG to NDC

UTAG National President Professor Mamudu Akudugu

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has called for more details on the opposition National Democratic Congress’ policy to waive fees for first-year students in public tertiary institutions if voted in the upcoming polls.

According to UTAG President Professor Mamudu Akudugu, the association supports initiatives to improve access to tertiary education.

However, they want a "fuller picture" of how the fee waiver will be implemented and how it aligns with broader reforms in the sector.

“We believe that all these policies are very good intentions, our position is that we need to have a fuller picture of what is it that each of the parties is planning for tertiary education space," Prof Akudugu stated in an interview with Accra-based TV3 on Wednesday, August 14.

He noted that there are outstanding issues like infrastructure development, lecturer recruitment and quality that must be addressed.

The UTAG leader further expressed his outfit’s readiness to work with the opposition party to strengthen the fee waiver policy and ensure it achieves the desired goals.

"Of course, there are students who are genuinely having financial constraints and cannot pay but as to how many of them they are we can’t tell as of this time. But even if it is just five students it is worth giving them support but that is why we also think that proper targeting of students who really need support to have a university education should be the way to go rather than the wholesale implementation of this policy,” the UTAG President posited.

Meanwhile, NDC flagbearer John Mahama has offered cost estimates for implementing the fee waiver and argued it can be financed through efficiency savings.

"We have costed it and we approximate that for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions, it should cost anywhere between 270 to about 290 million Ghana Cedis," Mahama said during a campaign visit to Juapong in the Volta region.

The policy, dubbed, ‘No Fees Stress’, was first announced at the launch of the NDC youth manifesto held at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) on Monday, August 12.