The Ghanaian government has suggested plans to greatly increase funding for student loans as part of a historic effort to make higher education more accessible.
Starting in the school year 2025/2026, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) would send a lot more money to the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF). The amount would rise from GH¢70 million to GH¢150 million.
This important news was shared by Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu at a press conference in Accra. Minister Iddrisu says that getting into college will be easier for all students, but especially those who are less fortunate.
More young Ghanaians will be able to follow their academic dreams without worrying about money now that the funding has gotten better. This should help students deal with the stress of having to pay for things.
The government hopes that this extra money will help more students go to college. For the country to grow and do well, its workers need to be better educated.
Why the GETFUND to SLTF Allocation is Important
The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) wants to help Ghanaian students pay for college. There are a number of important changes that are likely to happen because of the recent increase in funding:
- With more sources of funding, more students will be able to access education easily.
- The extra money will help the SLTF speed up the process of giving out loans. Making things run more smoothly and cut down on the delays that students have to deal with.
- This program is in line with the government’s “No Fees Stress” policy: It aims to make it easier for first-year students to get higher education by removing financial barriers. The government backs it.
From GH¢70m to GH¢150m
In the previous years, the GETFUND allocation has been GH¢70 million but this initiative moves the budget up to GH¢150 million for 2025. Such a big change in policy that will surely make it easier for students to get access to education.
This NDC Mahama government is doing things ahead of time to make sure that qualified students can get the education they want by putting more money into the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF).
We all hope that this change in thinking will help future generations make big contributions to the economy and society.
Minister Haruna Iddrisu made a promise when he was appointed, to get a big increase in funding to make Ghana’s scholarship system better.
He also said that he would use this extra money to bring the Scholarship Authority Bill to Parliament.
This proposed law would make a lot of big changes to the country’s scholarship system, starting from the bottom up:
The law’s goal is to get rid of any favoritism or nepotism in the process of giving out scholarships so that all students have an equal chance to compete for financial aid based only on their qualifications and merits.
One great thing about this project is that the beneficiaries will be able to see how the process works and what the results are. Because these awards will reported to the public on a regular basis.
It is suggested that there be one central body in charge of managing scholarships to make it easier to run them.
This will make it easier to keep an eye on things. For better monitoring, less work duplication, and a single way to evaluate scholarship applicants.
Ghanaianas have a lot less faith in the scholarship system now than they did before, and these changes go beyond just paperwork.
The government is putting a lot of emphasis on openness and responsibility to make sure that deserving students, those who show exceptional academic performance and promise, get the help they need to keep studying.
