The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has forcefully pushed back against claims surrounding the implementation of the No-Fees-Stress Policy, describing critical narratives as a sustained campaign of disinformation designed to mislead the public.
In an official statement setting out the details of the initiative, SLTF Chief Executive Saadija Shiraz clarified that the policy operates as a multi-tiered package intended to alleviate the cost of higher education for Ghanaian families. The framework comprises the No-Academic-Fees Policy, free tertiary education for persons with disabilities, Students Loan Plus, and the traditional student loan scheme.
Addressing the rollout of the No-Academic-Fees initiative, Shiraz noted that although the current administration under President John Dramani Mahama officially assumed office in January 2025 with an operational target of September 2025, immediate steps were taken to assist the preceding cohort.
“Alert to the financial realities confronting students admitted for the 2024/25 academic year, the Government — under no obligation to do so — took the empathetic decision for SLTF to refund the academic fees of all enrolled first-year students in public institutions for that cohort,” Shiraz stated, revealing that 152,698 first-year students were reimbursed.
Following consultations with education stakeholders, the government adopted an incremental rollout model for the 2025/26 academic year. Under this pilot phase, 45,127 first-year students across public Colleges of Education, Agriculture, and Health Training Institutions had their fees paid directly to their respective institutions out of 168,982 total beneficiaries processed for the period.
The statement also highlighted specialized support, including full tuition and residential coverage for 1,623 students with disabilities, alongside plans for assistive learning devices and potential loan forgiveness for existing borrowers. Furthermore, the newly introduced Students Loan Plus has provided GH₵20,762,175.19 in direct full-fee funding to 1,997 students, including 626 studying at the Ghana School of Law.
Substantial adjustments were also applied to the traditional loan scheme, where loan limits rose by 50 per cent to between GH₵2,250 and GH₵4,500, benefiting 59,307 students with total disbursements reaching GH₵210,610,800.00. Interest rates during study periods were reduced to a 6 per cent simple interest rate, down from 12 per cent compounding.
In total, the SLTF reported that the combined measures have reached 321,680 beneficiaries across the country, injecting significant financial relief directly to households.
“The 321,680 beneficiaries so far under the initiative are not statistics to be argued away; they are the verdict,” Shiraz declared. “SLTF will continue to implement this policy faithfully, transparently, and in the interest of every Ghanaian student it was designed to serve.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
