Haruna Iddrisu Clarifies that c Are Excluded from the ‘No Fee Stress’ Promise

Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education-designate, has clarified that medical students will not benefit from the government’s initiative to refund admission fees for first-year university students. During his vetting session by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on January 20, he explained that the policy will apply to students enrolled in “normal subject areas” and not specialized programs like medicine.

Iddrisu further stated that under the leadership of President Mahama, the government intends to allocate GHC 345 million in its upcoming budget to cover the refund of admission fees for first-year students in these conventional fields. He emphasized that the initiative is part of a broader model that the government aims to experiment with, to assess its feasibility and impact on the country. “We will look at how it goes and if it proves successful, we may expand it,” he said.

Regarding the exclusion of medical students from this refund policy, Iddrisu explained that the decision was made to prioritize general academic programs. He also reassured the public that for students who have already paid their admission fees, the government will process refunds.

When asked whether the refund policy would extend to tuition fees, Iddrisu clarified that tuition is already free for all public universities in Ghana, and the initiative specifically addresses admission fees. The issue of whether this policy also includes Colleges of Education, Nursing, and Midwifery Training Colleges was raised, to which Iddrisu responded that his focus was on admission fees for students in public universities, avoiding any confusion with other tertiary institutions.

Iddrisu concluded by reaffirming that this initiative is a pilot program, and the government will carefully evaluate its effectiveness before considering any potential expansion to other fields or institutions.