The National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), George Opare Addo, has outlined the party’s plan to use the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to finance their proposed initiative of free first-year tuition in public universities.
He indicated that while the GETFund would be a primary source of funding, the government would seek additional funds if necessary to sustain the programme.
In an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, August 12, Mr Opare Addo explained that the NDC would need to disentangle the GETFund, which has been capped and mortgaged, to ensure its effective use.
“The GETFund is one of the areas that we intend to use to fund it. Definitely along the line, other revenue streams may come onboard,” he said.
Mr Opare Addo’s explanation followed a promise made by the NDC flagbearer, John Mahama to provide tuition-free education for first-year students in public universities, a policy aimed at increasing access to higher education, particularly for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
He mentioned that the party is anticipating about 125,000 students, with the cost for academic user fees estimated at around $30 million per year—a figure he believes is feasible for the government to manage.
He emphasized that while the GETFund is a key resource, other revenue streams might be considered as the program progresses.
He also pointed out that this initiative would help reduce government waste by lowering the number of presidential staffers, estimating that the budget required for this programme is about 10% of the cost of the Free SHS programme.
Source: myjoyonline.com
