Dr Clement Apaak, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Manifesto Committee on Education has backed the Party's proposal to eliminate academic fees for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions. He said the initiative was likely to cost the government less than GHS300 million annually. The NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama announced the proposal along with several other key reforms in education at the launch of the Party's youth manifesto in Accra on Monday, 12 August 2024. Mr Mahama explained that the free tuition policy was designed to ease the financial burden on students and their families, ensuring that higher education was accessible to all, regardless of economic background. 'We will implement a no-fees stress programme to alleviate the financial burden on parents and students in financing tertiary education. We will implement a no academic fees policy at the university for level 100 students,' he said. Speaking to the media in Accra, Dr Apaak explained that the financ ial burden of paying those fees was a major barrier preventing many WASSCE graduates from accessing tertiary education. He stressed that the proposed policy, if implemented, would provide crucial support to students struggling to afford higher education. Citing figures from Africa Education Watch, Mr Apaak noted that less than 200,000 students enrolled in tertiary institutions for the 2023/2024 academic year. With first-year academic fees averaging between GHS2,000 and GHS2,300, he estimated the total cost of waiving the fees would be less than GHS300 million per year. 'So, if we were to use that as a base, we could posit that the policy will cost less than GHS300 million a year and of course, student numbers fluctuate each year, so it is doable and if we were to pluck revenue loopholes, we should be able to mobilise the resources to fund this proposal,' he said. Dr Apaak expressed confidence that by addressing revenue loopholes, the NDC could mobilise the necessary resources to fund the initiative if th e Party won the General Election. Meanwhile, Mr Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, has asked the NDC to prioritise supporting individuals who could not afford fees for tertiary education rather than adopting an open system. Mr Asare said there should be a broader focus on what could be done to keep less privileged students in school even after the first year, and what could be done to support those who could not afford it. He advised that 'We must have a targeted regime of identifying students who are genuinely unable to afford the cost of tertiary and give them even more support than the waiver of academic facility user fee so that they can enter and complete.' Source : Ghana News Agency