Dr. Clement Apaak, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Manifesto Committee on Education, has defended the party’s proposal to eliminate academic fees for all first-year students, highlighting that the initiative is likely to cost the government less than GH¢300 million annually.

Speaking on Citi FM on Tuesday, August 13, Apaak explained that the financial burden of paying those fees is a major barrier preventing many WASSCE graduates from advancing to tertiary education.

He emphasized that the proposed policy, if implemented, would provide crucial support to students struggling to afford higher education.

Citing figures from Africa Education Watch, Clement 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 GH¢2,000 and GH¢2,300, he estimated the total cost of waiving these fees at under GH¢300 million per year.

“From the figures that we have, if we are to go by some information that has been put out by our good brother Kofi Asare of Africa Education Watch, they estimate that if one was to look at the number of students who took up places in tertiary institutions in the 2023/2024 academic year, they are less than 200,000 and when you look at the academic fees of first-year students on average, it works out to anywhere between GH¢2,000 and GH¢2,300 thereabout.

“So, if we were to use that as a base, we could posit that the policy will cost less than GH¢300 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.

Apaak further expressed confidence that by addressing revenue loopholes, the NDC could mobilize the necessary resources to fund the initiative if the party wins the general elections.

NAY/AE

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