Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said the guarantor-free tertiary students’ loan being planned by the NPP administration from next year will create equal opportunities for access to tertiary education in the country.
He said the Akufo-Addo government had already delivered on its promise to ensure free education at the senior high school (SHS) level and wanted the beneficiaries to continue to aspire for higher education.
He said on the campaign trail at Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region on Sunday that as the first batch of the Free SHS graduates awaited their WASSCE results, and many others struggle to access tertiary education, the government has put in place a policy which would allow qualified SHS students to access tertiary education without hindrance.
“We have a big vision for the education of Ghanaian children and our focus is not to leave them at SHS but to see all qualified SHS graduates progress to the university,” he said.
“If we have brought Free SHS because many parents can’t afford to finance the secondary education of their children, how do we expect same parents to be able to pay for their children to attend universities? That is why we have a new policy, through which all qualified students can access loans and pay their fees,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia explained, in detail, requirements for the tertiary students’ loan which would replace the current students’ loan.
“All that is required is the Ghana Card. Once you have your Ghana Card, you can access a loan to pay for your tertiary fees and then pay back in installments after National Service and another one year grace period after National Service, by which time you will hopefully be working.
“This is a new thinking by the visionary Akufo-Addo, which will ensure that qualified Free SHS graduates who cannot pay for their university education won’t be left behind at the secondary level. We want every qualified child to go to the university. This is what we mean by equal opportunity,” he said.