Minister for Education Haruna Iddrisu has assured Parliament that the government’s “No Fee Stress” policy is being fully implemented, with no outstanding arrears recorded for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years.
Addressing Parliament on Thursday, June 18, the Minister stated that all funds required for the programme have been released and are currently being disbursed through the Student Loan Trust Fund.
He explained that the Ministry of Finance has made adequate financial releases to support both the “No Fee Stress” initiative and the free tertiary education programme for persons with disabilities.
“The Minister for Finance has made releases adequately to the Student Loan Trust, which is executing the ‘No Fee Stress’ and the free education for persons with disability,” he told lawmakers.
Mr. Iddrisu stressed that there are no outstanding financial obligations under the policy.
“There is no outstanding obligation in respect of ‘No Fee Stress’ for 2024/25 and 2025/26,” he stated.
He noted that implementing agencies are mainly responsible for verifying the eligibility of beneficiaries before payments are processed.
“What we do is just authentication. Are you the real student? Are you a student of this particular institution? And more importantly, are you a first-year student?” he explained.
According to him, once verification is completed, payments are made without delay.
The Education Minister also referenced earlier assurances given at Takoradi Technical University regarding government support for technical and vocational education.
He said government had indicated that by 2027, the Ghana Education Trust Fund would allocate a minimum of GH¢10 million to each technical university across the country, amounting to a total of GH¢100 million.
Mr. Iddrisu reaffirmed government’s commitment to expanding access to tertiary education and ensuring that financial constraints do not prevent qualified students from pursuing higher education.
He added that disbursement of funds under the “No Fee Stress” programme is ongoing and that the initiative continues to operate without any financial backlog.
