Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has criticised the Mahama administration’s implementation of its “No-Fee-Stress” policy, arguing that the arrangement has shifted rather than eliminated the financial burden on tertiary students.
According to Mr Aboagye, students are being required to raise money and pay their tertiary fees before applying for reimbursement, a process he says contradicts the central promise of the policy.
Mr Aboagye said the arrangement was particularly difficult for students from low-income households who may struggle to raise the required fees before they can enrol.
He maintained that the government’s campaign commitment was to remove that initial financial hurdle by ensuring that eligible students could access tertiary education without first having to secure the money themselves.
“Not a single Ghanaian child has received stress-free fees. All of them. Not a single one. The two batches. What they have received, rather, is post-stress,” he said.
The former presidential staffer argued that the reimbursement model could leave some qualified students unable to take up admission because they lack the resources to make the initial payment.
He also questioned whether the arrangement was substantially different from existing student financing mechanisms, under which students obtain money to pay their fees before receiving financial support.
“When I went to the University of Ghana, my entire time at the University of Ghana, I used SSNIT loan. You know how SSNIT loan works. You go and look for the money, pay. Once you’re in the school, you apply, you get a refund,” he said.
Mr Aboagye further claimed that some students who qualified for tertiary education had remained at home because they could not meet the upfront financial requirement.
He said the situation exposed what he described as a gap between the government’s campaign promise and its implementation, particularly for students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
The NPP communications aspirant said the opposition would continue to scrutinise the policy and highlight what it considers shortcomings in its implementation.
His comments come amid broader discussions over how the government’s tertiary education financing commitments are being implemented and whether the current arrangement is delivering the financial relief promised to students.
