The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has welcomed the newly launched ‘No Fee Stress Policy’ by President John Dramani Mahama as a transformative intervention for needy students in Ghana’s public tertiary institutions.
The long-time education advocate described the initiative as the realisation of a decade-long dream to ensure that financial barriers no longer prevent qualified students from accessing higher education.
“Since 2012, I have supported over 20 needy students to pay their first-year academic fees to honour admission. The record is Facebook’s history.
“Upon an admission offer, candidates often have just two weeks to pay to accept or lose admission. In 2023, I described this stage as the greatest point of need in the life of a needy tertiary student.”
Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare
According to him, the ‘No Fee Stress Policy’, launched by President Mahama on Friday, July 4, 2025, at the SDA College of Education in Asokore, Koforidua, addresses this very crisis point in the tertiary education journey.
He indicated that beginning this academic year, all newly admitted students into public tertiary institutions who apply under the policy will have their academic fees waived at the point of admission.
Kofi Asare celebrated this policy shift as a major relief for both students and those who have been supporting them informally.
Mr. Asare noted that the idea of decoupling fee payment from the admission process has been at the heart of his education advocacy for years.
“I have long been advocating a system that allows financially challenged students to gain admission without having to pay academic fees. This proposal featured strongly during my engagements with the education teams of both major political parties in 2020 and 2024.”
Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare
More Measures to Boost Student Financial Support
Beyond the policy itself, Kofi Asare also welcomed related measures that promise to improve the broader framework of student financial support.
Chief among these is the President’s announcement that student loans will now be indexed against annual inflation—a move that will preserve the real value of the loans over time. For Mr. Asare, this represents a thoughtful and forward-looking intervention.
Further bolstering the credibility and sustainability of the student loan system is a significant increase in funding from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to the Student Loan Trust Fund.
Mr. Asare praised the allocation of GHC 70 million for the current academic year and expressed optimism about the promised increase to GHC 150 million next year.
According to him, this financial boost accounts for the speed at which funds have been released this year, easing the burden on students and educational institutions alike.
As an education policy think tank, Kofi Asare noted that Eduwatch has long monitored and assessed the country’s student financing landscape.
He assured that his organisation will continue to work with the Ministry of Education to ensure that the new policy is not only effective but also sustainable.
He stressed the need for the government to refine the operational framework, focusing on efficient targeting, a robust and expedited student loan scheme, and appropriate legal backing.
For Kofi Asare, the ‘No Fee Stress Policy’ represents more than just a policy win. It is a personal and professional victory, the culmination of years of advocacy rooted in deep compassion for underprivileged youth.
It is also a testament to what can be achieved when sound ideas meet political will. With the implementation of this initiative, thousands of brilliant but financially constrained young Ghanaians can now begin their tertiary education journey without the shadow of immediate financial exclusion hanging over them.
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