The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, revealed that the government had spent GH¢917 million to support students under the No-Fees-Stress Policy. The funds, which came from the Consolidated Fund, covered 321,807 students. This initiative was launched on July 4, 2025, as part of President John Mahama's commitment to reducing the financial burden of tertiary education students and their families.
The No-Fees-Stress Policy has five sub-components, including the no academic fee policy, free tertiary education for persons with disabilities, the students loan plus initiative, an enhanced traditional loan scheme with higher loan amounts and reduced interest rates, and the digitalisation of the system to make it easier to access loans. The policy aims to ensure that financial circumstances do not become a barrier to accessing tertiary education for any Ghanaian student.
The programme has been implemented by the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) and adequately funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). The SLTF's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Saajida Shiraz, noted that the fund had an expanded mandate to introduce the government's flagship No-Fees-Stress Policy. This policy is a transformational initiative by President John Dramani Mahama to promote inclusive, equitable, and sustainable student financing.
One of the major challenges of the No-Fee-Stress Policy has been the timely release of budgetary allocations for its implementation. Minister Iddrisu stressed the need to ensure the timely release of funds to avoid defeating the purpose of the initiative. He emphasised that the policy had come to stay and that the government had opened up student loan trust support to students studying Law for the first time in many years.
The No-Fees-Stress Policy has also demystified legal education, and Minister Iddrisu indicated that the government would do the same for medical education in the coming years. He suggested that human capital development should be construed as a strategic investment requirement of every government, with sufficient budgetary allocation provided for it.
The Board Chairperson of the SLTF, Cynthia Amerley Amarteifio, noted that access, inclusion, affordability, and sustainability to tertiary education had been placed at the centre of the government's education agenda under President Mahama's reset agenda. The Stakeholder Engagement on the Implementation of the No-Fees-Stress Initiative, organised by the SLTF, brought together representatives of various educational institutions and civil society organisations.
The engagement, held at Dawu in the Eastern Region, aimed to strengthen the implementation of the No-Fees-Stress Policy through institutional partnerships for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable student financing. Minister Iddrisu commended the management and leadership of the SLTF and GETFund for keeping the dream of the No-Fees-Stress Policy a reality under President Mahama's Reset.
Key points
- The Ghanaian government has spent GH¢917 million to support 321,807 students under the No-Fees-Stress Policy.
- The policy aims to reduce the financial burden of tertiary education students and their families.
- The initiative has been implemented by the Students Loan Trust Fund and adequately funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund.
