Each student receives about GH¢3,000 under No Fees Stress policy — SLTF CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF), Dr Saajida Shiraz, says each beneficiary under the government's No Fees Stress policy receives an average of about GH¢3,000 to support their academic costs.

She disclosed this when she appeared before Parliament's Education Committee on Wednesday, July 8, to provide updates on the implementation of the policy and respond to concerns over beneficiary validation and payment processes.

Dr Shiraz explained that the amount received by students varies depending on their programmes and approved academic-related fees, with some students receiving about GH¢2,800 and others getting up to GH¢4,500.

"About GH¢3,000 goes to every student. Some have received GH¢2,800. The highest anybody gets, I think, is GH¢4,500 for this academic year," Dr Shiraz told the committee.

The SLTF CEO said the fund has introduced measures to ensure that only genuine students enrolled in tertiary institutions benefit from the policy.

She said unlike previous arrangements, the fund this year obtained admission and enrollment lists directly from tertiary institutions and pre-populated its portal to allow students to validate their details before applying.

Dr Shiraz said the process involves multiple checks, including verification with universities, to prevent non-students from accessing funds.

"Every single person who makes a true application process is claimed by a school. We assure this committee that we are not paying, and even after we do that, we send the validated applied list back to the schools for confirmation to be sure that everybody on it is the person that you say they are," she said.

She further explained that the amount paid under the No Fees Stress policy was determined after reviewing fee structures from more than 2,600 academic programmes across tertiary institutions.

According to her, the policy covers academic-related costs, while certain charges, including SRC dues, are excluded from the approved payments.

Dr Shiraz was responding to questions from former Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif.