The Education Minister-designate, Haruna Iddrisu, has clarified that medical students are not included in the government's initiative to reimburse admission fees for first-year university students.He explained that President Mahama's administration intends to allocate funding in its upcoming budget specifically for first-year students enrolled in "general subject areas.

0

"During his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on January 20, Haruna Iddrisu revealed that Finance Minister-designate Dr. Ato Forson, if approved, would set aside GHC345 million to facilitate this reimbursement.“On the authority of President Mahama, I am sure the Minister of Finance, if approved, will present the Reset Budget of the government.

1

It will include some provision of GHC345 million for admission fees for students studying in normal subject areas, not areas like Medicine,” he revealed.The Minister-designate described the initiative as a pilot program under President Mahama’s leadership, noting, “for President Mahama, this is a model to experiment. We will look at it, how we fare as a country if it is possible to expand then we expand it.

2

”Responding to queries from Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader and Ranking Member of the Committee, Haruna Iddrisu highlighted that the 'No Fee Stress' policy, featured in President Mahama's Youth Manifesto, aims to ease the financial burden on students and their families.

3

The manifesto outlines this initiative under "The Pledge: The John Mahama 2024 Promise to Young People," stating, “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.

4

”Haruna Iddrisu assured that students who have already paid their admission fees will receive refunds.When asked if tuition fees would also be included, he clarified, “We know that some students have paid their admission fees, we will refund it to them.”"Tuition at all public universities in Ghana is already free; this reimbursement applies strictly to admission fees.

5

"In addition, he was asked whether public universities include Colleges of Education and Nursing and Midwifery Training Colleges, to which he offered further explanation.

6