Gov’t provides GHS900,353,000 to support 317,841 students under No-Fees-Stress Policy

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education, said on Monday that the Government has provided GHc 900,353,000 to support 317,841 students, including law students, under the “No-Fees- Stress” Policy.

The Government, he said, was committed to demystifying legal education across the country, defining the government's social intervention policies.

The Minister announced this during the Government Accountability Series at the Presidency in Accra.

He said the Government had enhanced its students' loan scheme in the colleges from Ghc1,500 to Ghc3,000 and from Ghc 2250 to GHc 4,500.

Dr Saajida Shiraz, the Chief Executive Officer of the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF), announced that more than 52,000 first-year tertiary students had so far benefited from the government's “No Academic Fees” initiative for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The policy is to reduce the financial burden on students entering public institutions.

It is also to ensure that no qualified Ghanaian student was denied access to tertiary education because of financial constraints.

Dr Shiraz said the Fund received 184,489 first-year admission records from 163 public tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic year.

Out of that figure, she said 161,170 students had successfully completed their validation processes and were currently being prepared for payment.

Dr Shiraz explained that the SLTF had introduced a direct-to-institution disbursement model for students in Colleges of Education, Colleges of Agriculture and Health Training Institutions under a hybrid implementation arrangement.

“Under the system, academic fees for 41,007 students have already been paid directly to 137 institutions, while an additional 11,000 first-year students in public universities and technical universities have also had their fees fully settled,” he said.

The SLTF boss revealed that the Fund had introduced a “No-Fees-Stress” status checker on its website to enable students to track their validation and reimbursement status.

She explained that the platform was designed to improve transparency, strengthen accountability and ensure fairness in the disbursement process.

Government has allocated GH¢537 million in the 2026 Budget to support the “No-Fees-Stress” policy, alongside an additional GH¢25 million earmarked for free tertiary education for persons living with disability.

GNA