On January 20, 2021, the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central addressed the house of parliament to resolve to request for the President of the Republic of Ghana to take urgent steps to suspend the payment of admission fees by new entrants into public tertiary education institutions and continuing students of those institutions for the 2020/2021 academic year as part of the national Covid-19 relief program being implemented by the government.
In his address to the house, Hon. Mahama Ayariga pleaded the indulgence of the house for the suspension of the Fees and the Miscellaneous Provisions Instrument, 2019 (LI 2386) for the 2021 academic year. He noted that the economic difficulties faced by households in terms of their fast depleting incomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors call for this move.
“Parliament and the President will obviously not insist on these fees in light of the prevailing economic circumstances. Essential components of the public tertiary institutions can function without many of the fees and charges requested from students in LI 3386.
“Student bursaries will only kick in to support students only after they have been able to pay admission fees and entered the universities,” he remarked.
He also requested that the issue be addressed with urgency since public tertiary institutions were reopening and students who had been offered admission were requested to pay fees before they are admitted, else they lose their studentship opportunity.
Merits for a possible suspension of fees
The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic on households has been uneven, as the most vulnerable and the poor tend to be the most badly hit. Essentially, the effect of the pandemic has widened the extreme inequalities in our society. And one area that could help us reverse such inequalities is with education.
Economic experts posit that the economic fall out of the pandemic will long outlive the health crisis. Therefore, in the face of already stretched household budgets since last year, the economic consequences of COVID-19 continue to squeeze household budgets as well as reduce families’ capacity to fund their children’s education.
It is worth noting that, incomes of most Ghanaian households is low, volatile and unpredictable and this has been heightened the more by COVID. Therefore, many have had to spend little funds at their disposal for the purpose of merely surviving this COVID economy.
By and large, most families depend on the generosity of individuals or support of relatives for cash transfers in order to take their children through school. With the increased loss of jobs, lay-offs and the close down of several businesses due to the COVID-19 impact, these means of support that Ghanaian families receive in taking their children through school has become almost non-existent.
More so, most families throughout these COVID times have had to deplete their savings for consumption purposes due to the hardships the shock from the pandemic comes with. Even after the lifting of the lockdown, most families have not been able to regain shape in terms of their finances and this has placed a heavy toll on them. Thus, the struggles of families to send their wards back to school.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced remittance flows into the economy. Inarguably, both internal and external remittance flows are identified as important enablers of education or schooling. And most Ghanaian families heavily depend on that to keep their families running. As at 2019, World Bank statistics showed that remittance flows into Ghana was $3.5 billion.
However, total remittances received in 2020 dropped significantly as a result of the global downturn of COVID. With the World Bank projecting that global remittances will fall by 14 percent this year, we should anticipate that, Ghana will also register a decline in remittances as well.
Furthermore, the loss of household income due to job losses from the COVID-19 shock persists, especially in the tourism and Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises which mostly employ many vulnerable groups. Thus, for such households, a reduction or total absorption of fees would substantially alleviate the burden on them.
Although, Government provided some reliefs to cushion businesses among others, sections of the public have not been comfortable with the manner of disbursement; With some alleging that the Government provided such funds to people who identified with the NPP. Providing this kind of relief to households is broader in scope and is likely to be all-embracing.
Implications for the suspension of Fees
Whilst there is a plethora of reasons to suggest the need for supporting households, however, there is need to also consider the impact of such a program on the government’s finances. Already, the government is facing extreme fiscal challenges and a ballooned debt stock with most of the debts maturing this year.
Should this be approved, what it means is that, the government would have deferred some financial obligations into the near term which it would have to finance. Thus, the government would then have to sacrifice keeping a low fiscal deficit to giving every child an opportunity to education which otherwise may be lost due to lack of funds.
It is obviously a hard choice, however, this burden can be reduced significantly, if tertiary institutions are made to extend the deadline for their admission or the acceptance of fees so that a scheme of payment can be provided for those who are finding difficulties in making payments to apply for, who may then be supported by the government or made to apply for student loans available. For until now, households who are able to afford the payment of fees have already enrolled their wards in the various tertiary institutions.
