25 per cent University Fees hike? What was the plan all along? - Kristy Sakyi writes
They promised us a lifeline. In black and white, in their 2024 manifesto, they offered a covenant to Ghanaian youth: a “No-Fees Stress” policy. Free tertiary education for first-year students and persons with disabilities. Academic fees, they said, would be “fully covered by state funds.” As a student of International Relations, I recognise a diplomatic pledge when I see one. As a youth activist, I learned a harder lesson: to recognize a political bait-and-switch.
Today, that covenant is in ashes. The University of Ghana has announced an academic fee increase of over 25%. Let’s be clear: this is not an isolated university decision made in a vacuum. This is the direct and shameful consequence of a government reneging on its core promise, leaving students to bear the brunt of a fiscal shell game.
We were sold an illusion. The grand “free first year” was quietly, technocratically, downgraded to a 20% refundable arrangement. A discount, not a grant. A loan dressed in manifesto finery. And now, in our second year, the hammer falls. The question every student is asking is chillingly simple: What was the plan all along?
The answer seems painfully obvious: Entice us with irresistible slogans. Get us through the gate, committed to our programmes and our dreams. Then, once we are locked in, a captive market, slam us with outrageous hikes to claw back the money. This is not a policy failure. This is calculated exploitation. It is a betrayal that treats the aspirations of Ghanaian youth as a line item on a balance sheet.
This government has chosen to balance its books on the backs of students. It is a short-sighted and cruel strategy. They seem to have forgotten that we are not mere statistics or revenue streams. We are future engineers, doctors, teachers, and leaders. The message they are sending is corrosive: students are no longer citizens to be invested in; we are human ATMs to be drained.
As a student of global affairs, I see how other nations invest feverishly in their youth, understanding that educated populations are the bedrock of sovereignty and economic power. Here, our own government constructs barriers. They dangle the carrot of opportunity, only to replace it with the stick of debilitating debt.
This fee hike is more than a financial burden; it is a psychological breach. It tells every young Ghanaian that political promises are written in disappearing ink.
We call on the government to look beyond the next fiscal quarter and into the eyes of a generation it is disillusioning. Reverse this punitive hike. Honor the spirit, not just the eviscerated letter, of your “No-Fees Stress” pledge. Provide a sustainable, transparent funding plan for public tertiary education.
Our future is not a negotiating chip. Our education is not a scam. We are watching, we are organising, and we will remember. The cost of this deception will be far greater than any fee they can impose.
The writer Kristy Sakyi is an International Relations enthusiast and an advocate for youth development and educational equity.
