No-Fee-Stress portal launched

A portal to actualise the policy of absorbing the admission and facility user fees has been launched in Accra.

The portal is a dedicated digital platform that provides students, families and institutions with comprehensive information on eligibility, institutional coverage and beneficiaries.

Dubbed “No-Fee-Stress Portal”, it requires first-year students to submit their application for the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) to take care of their admission and facility user fees.

The policy covers all Ghanaian first-year students in public tertiary institutions and it enables such students to access financial support from the government of Ghana.

How to apply

To apply, a student is required to visit NoFeesStress.sltf.gov.gh or www.slftf.gov.gh portal and provide his/her Ghana Card Identification number, telephone number and student ID number.

The student will be required to enter his or her Ghana Card number, and then verify his or her identity with the NIA by taking a selfie on the “CAPTURE PAGE”.

The student then fills in his or her details and receives an OTP code, confirms it on the OTP page, enters the institution and bank details, reviews the details when it is done and then submits.

If successfully submitted, a “thank you, your information has been submitted” would pop up.

Launch

At the launch of the portal in Accra at the inauguration of a 13-member Board of Trustees of the SLTF chaired by Cynthia Amerley Amarteifio, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, was particularly happy that the portal had been launched, “So that the public will know that we are operationalising this policy efficiently and transparently.”

He said the portal was in fulfilment of the promise of a no-fees policy for first-year tertiary students made by the President during his campaign before the 2024 general election.

“Government is seeking to absorb those fees”,  and tasked the chairperson and members of the trust that the responsibility would rest on their shoulders.

“Disburse this money to all beneficiary students in a manner that is fair, open, transparent, and meritorious,” the minister told them.

The minister said all tertiary students both public and private, would benefit from the President's special intervention in the no-fees stress.

“The transformative policy eliminates admission, registration, and tuition fees.

Tuition is free at all levels of education in Ghana.

So, nobody should debate tuition fees.

The promise and pledge were for admission, registration, and academic facility fees for first-year students.

“Tuition at all levels of education in Ghana, from basic to university, remains free.

There is no intention by this government to change that policy.

What the President is emphasising is that no student should suffer getting admitted the first time when you have an admission letter,” Mr Iddrisu emphasised.

GETFund allocation

On allocations to the SLTF, the minister said the allocation of GH¢60 million was woefully inadequate.

He explained, “If we anticipate expanding it to cover other students in other institutions, especially the private universities, I will have no hesitation that, in your 2026 formula, we double this amount to GH¢150 million allocation to the Student Loan Trust so that we can expand your remit.”

Addressing the board of trustees, Mr Iddrisu said the President had every trust in their expertise, that they would do him good in serving the Ghanaian people better, “in particular, contributing to ameliorating the unbearable financial burden of university students, particularly in their first year.”