We disagree with Mahama's wholesale Level 100 academic fees policy - UTAG

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has raised objections to John Dramani Mahama's pledge to pay academic user facility fees for all level 100 students if elected into power.

UTAG suggests that the funds should instead be distributed to universities as bursaries to be administered directly.

Speaking on JoyNews' PM Express, the President of UTAG, Professor Mahamoud Akudugu, stated, It is good news that government wants to do this, but we at the universities are also concerned about the fact that currently, government's funding to the universities has drastically declined to the extent that only salaries are being paid. Universities are expected to pay their own electricity, utility bills, and all the rest.

He further explained, For us, we believe that this policy should be targeted for equity, and besides that, we would have even preferred that this is given as bursaries and scholarships or grants to the universities to administer because they will be able to know who are the needy students based on their history.

However, Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor, Director of Inter-Party and CSO Relations for the NDC, disagreed with UTAG's suggestion, arguing, I strongly disagree because it will create room for rent-seeking...

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has announced that first-year tertiary students will not pay academic fees.

According to him, this initiative is part of the government’s effort to lessen the financial burden on parents funding their children's education.

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