Rev. John Ntim Fordjour – Deputy Minister for Education
THE LAW requiring a guarantor for tertiary students to access loans from the Students Loan Trust has been amended by Parliament as part of government’s policy to fulfill its constitutional mandate under Article 25 of the Constitution.
The Students Loan Trust Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was read the third time, with the motion moved by the Deputy Minister for Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, on behalf of the minister responsible for education, and seconded by the Chairman of the Committee on Education, Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah.
The bill was laid in the House on December 16, 2021, by the Deputy Minister for Education, Gifty Twum-Ampofo, in accordance with Article 106(13) of the Constitution.
A number of amendments were made to the bill, but a proposed amendment to insert in the bill a discretion to the board to “request any scheme established under the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act776) on any pension scheme operated and managed by any institution in the country made by a borrower to that scheme, pursuant to a court order” was rejected.
During the consideration stage, the NDC MP for Akatsi South, Bernard Ahiafor, raised issues with the sustenance of the fund if beneficiaries are made to access the loan without the state having anything to hold them to pay back.
The NPP MP for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah-Kubi, explained that the “no guarantor” caveat of the new student loan regime would be checked using the national identification system and digitalisation processes of the government, such as GPS for repayment of the loan, arguing that the bill would benefit the underprivileged students.
The NPP MP for Trobu, Moses Anim, proposed that beneficiaries should be made to pay back the loan from their salaries, while in employment after school and national service.
Background
In 2017, the government pursued the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme to improve and expand access to secondary and tertiary education.
The successful implementation of this programme made it possible for many more students from poor socio-economic backgrounds to participate and complete their secondary education.
The government said the high-performance rate of Free SHS students who wrote the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination in 2021, indicated that there would be an increase in the number of students who will be transitioning to tertiary institutions in 2022.
“As a result, continuing with a policy that requires a guarantor to access loans from the Students Loan Trust will serve as a hindrance to many qualified students accessing the loan to continue their education, as well as prevent the government from fulfilling its constitutional mandate under Article 25 of the Constitution.”
The government stated that if the Free SHS graduates are unable to transition to the next level of their education, the broad educational goals would not be fully realised.
The Ghana Tertiary Education Report projects tertiary enrolment to grow by forty per cent (40%) between 2019/2020 academic year and 2022/2023 academic year.
Consequently, removing barriers in the acquisition of loans by tertiary students from the Students Loan Trust Fund will facilitate the provision of equal opportunities to everyone who wants to have access to higher education.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House