The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has lauded President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the government for the announcement of a free tertiary tuition fee for the first batch of Free SHS students.

The Scholarship Secretariat announced today at a press conference that it has been instructed by President Akufo-Addo to start awarding scholarships which will cover tuition fees for all eligible SHS students to access tertiary education next academic year.

As a result, the Scholarship Secretariat has announced an online portal for all eligible SHS graduates to apply.

After the announcement, the nation's students union issued a statement to commend "the honest commitment of the President to improving access to education at all level."

"The National Union of Ghana Students commends the New Patriotic Party, and in particular, His Excellency the President, for his honest commitment to improving access to quality education at every level," the statement said.

"The National Union of Ghana Student further takes note of the new policy from the New Patriotic Party which has been announced by the Scholarship Secretariat today, 1st December 2020 which promises tuition-free access to Tertiary education, both in Private and Public Tertiary institution, for all those eligible."

The NUGS statement added: "NUGS further notes that this new policy adds to a policy previously rolled out by the Government which permits applicants for Student loans at the Tertiary Level to obtain such loans without the need for a guarantor."

"NUGS is satisfied, confident, and recognize that in terms of Education, the New Patriotic Party in Government has consistently rollout policies which are well-informed and largely well-implemented, therefore."

"We say a big thank you to His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Minister for Education, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and all in charge of moving our nation’s education system into the 21st Century by removing artificial hurdles to access and quality.

The latest announcement, which covers tuition fees, adds to the earlier guarantor free tertiary loan announced by the government.

The policy allows all tertiary students, including continuing students to access guarantor free loans for their tertiary entire education expenses, accommodation, and then pay back in instalments when they finish school and get a job.