The Youth Manifesto launched by the National Democratic Congress has many promises.
One that seems to resonate with the target audience most is the “No Fee Stress Initiative”.
Details of this policy are, however, not certain as two documents that were read at the same event had varying explanations on what prospective level 100 students stand to benefit.
On Page 6 of the Youth Manifesto titled “The Pledge: The John Mahama 2024 Pledge to Young People,” the author wrote, “We will implement a no-fees stress programme to alleviate the financial burden on parents and students in financing tertiary education. We will implement a ‘No Academic Fees’ policy at the university for level 100 students.”
It added, “Redeploy the Student Loan Trust Fund Plus (SLTF Plus) to give continuing students the option to utilise students’ loans to finance directly their university fees to guarantee the peace of mind of the student to study”
However, in his 7-paged speech former president John Mahama, who launched the document stated, “We will also launch the ‘No Fee Stress Initiative,’ providing fee-paying support to eligible students through the Student Loan Trust Fund (STLF).
Undoubtedly, the ‘No Fee Stress Initiative’ is such great news, thus some observers have questioned why the flagbearer of the NDC chose to be economical with his speech on that financially relieving announcement.
They expected that John Mahama would tout this novelty in tertiary education funding. The critics say his explanation of the “No Fee Stress Initiative,” as contained in his speech, is not different from offering loans to tertiary students, a policy that is already in existence.
Those who seem to appreciate his approach say once the details have been captured in the manifesto, there was no need for Mr Mahama to spend time explaining further.
Yet, others have said that the seeming unclarity will be cleared when the larger NDC Manifesto is out doored.
Still, some say it will serve the party’s interest to put paid to this discussion by issuing a press release tomorrow morning to state the policy proposal without any ambiguity.
Until then, the question is, will level 100 students enjoy ‘No Academic Fees’ policy under a John Mahama government in 2025?
Watch John Mahama delivering his speech here:
