The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has described the introduction of the No Guarantor for the student loan policy as a game changer, and has further pleaded with President Akufo-Addo to help sustain it.
According to the Union, the policy would create a huge appeal and enthusiasm amongst young people who want to go to tertiary institutions, especially when there was a free Senior High School programme also running.
“Your Excellency, if we are praising you for the No Guarantor policy launch, then we believe it is also right that we request that you help us in sustaining it, because it is a game changer. The No Guarantor policy, we have said it and we will keep saying that it is a game changer,” NUGs pointed out.
The leadership of NUGs paid a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo at Jubilee House on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, to deliberate on issues in the education sector of the country.
In his address, the President of NUGs, Dennie Appiah Larbi Ampofo, made a case for the cost of the policy, looking at how well students had welcomed the No Guarantor initiative.
“What that means is that we have free SHS churning out about 400,000 [students] every year and we have a no-guarantor policy enticing people to go to school. What that means is that the cost matter of financing no guarantor must be critically looked at.
Your Excellency, we, as a students’ front, are proposing that we should, if it possible, develop a sustainable means of financing the no guarantor such that in a year it should be able to help a list of 150,000 young people,” he stated.
OTHER MATTERS
The NUGs President also touched on the amount of money earmarked for the School Feeding Programme, informing the President that complaints indicate the allocation per student was inadequate, and pleaded with the Nana Akufo-Addo to have a critical look at the amount and have it increased.
Further, he informed the President that for about ten months nursing trainee allowances had not been paid, a situation the NUGs President opined was eroding the good reputation the government had chalked for the restoration, and called for help in that regard.
The NUGs President again informed the President that since last year, money for scholarships had not been paid. While appreciating the efforts of the Registrar of the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat, he said the majority of scholarships, both local and foreign, had not been paid.
NUGs said they had met the President because they knew this administration listens, and the days of getting “answers from the street are far gone, because we have a different regime.”
He concluded his address by assuring the President that the Union is taking an active part in keeping the peace on various campuses. He referred to the KNUST impasse and said the union had met with the entire students and leadership, but also called on the university management to also do their part.
PRESIDENT’S RESPONSE
On his part, President Akufo-Addo commended the move by the Union to meet him to deliberate on issues confronting the educational sector.
He stated that, while the union’s concerns were listed, they all fed into the discussion about how much money the country is willing to spend on education and its various ramifications.
According to the President, the government already spends considerable amounts of money on education through the national budget, higher than virtually all countries on the continent.
“But, nevertheless, as you can see from your own recital, it is still, if you like, inadequate. Because if it was adequate, it would deal with the amount that is spent on students for the feeding programme; it would deal with the issue of trainee allowances; it would deal with the issue of scholarships. All these are the direct results of the budgetary constraints there are in the system.”
On the no guarantor policy, President Akufo-Addo indicated that it was significant in the scheme of affairs as far as tertiary education in the country is concerned. According to him, Ghana, which has set a target of 40% enrolment by 2030, should rather be targeting the success story of countries like Korea, which is doing about 90%, a reason he believes the no guarantor policy is key.
President Akufo-Addo commended the union for taking it upon themselves to have harmony on the various campuses. He could not understand how student activities should end up in chaos and destroying properties, which, in the end, brings cost.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo assured the Union that the government was committed to issues of education in general, and as such, all the matters raised would be considered, “and results will come out from it,” he ended.
