Absorbing 50 per cent of tertiary fees commendable – NUGS

The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has hailed the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) promise to absorb 50 per cent of fees for tertiary students if elected into power on December 7, 2020.

It said the intervention, if implemented, would reduce the “huge” financial burden students grappled with, eradicate the “frequent” drop out of students and increase enrolment at the tertiary level.

Mr Isaac Jay Hyde, President of NUGS, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, in Accra, on Tuesday after the NDC announced the package at the launch of the Party’s manifesto for the 2020 general election.

He said for a long time, the Union had been advocating the absorption of half of the fees paid by tertiary students and commended the NDC for the foresight.

Mr Hyde said though the Student Loan Trust Fund was established to provide loan assistance to students, apart from the amount being relatively small, the inability of students to provide guarantors, hindered them.

The NUGS President said that had led to many students canceling their programmes and dropping out of school.

“The guarantorship system over the years has been a major problem. As I speak to you we have about 31,000 student loan beneficiaries but each and every year, students are dropping out because they are not able to get onto the scheme because normally, for the thousands of vulnerable and persons from less privileged background to get a relative who is a SSNIT contributor becomes a challenge,” he stated.

Mr Hyde said “...and so for as at NUGS, as a student union whose interest is to champion the interest of students, we think this is commendable.”

“We, therefore commend the NDC for working behind the scenes and doing a good research and coming up with an intervention that will address students’ plight and improve on the development of the country’s human resource.“

He, however, appealed to political parties to move beyond their manifestoes and commit to ensuring that their promises were implemented for the benefit of society.