Tertiary students in Ghana can now apply for student loans with ONLY Ghana Card- as Bawumia launches “No Guarantor Student Loan Policy”

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has launched the No Guarantor Student Loan Policy at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.

The No Guarantor Student Loan Policy, a promise by the Akufo-Addo government prior to the 2020 elections, is to make tertiary education accessible to Ghanaian youth, especially graduates from the highly subscribed Free Senior High School policy.

With the No Guarantor Student Loan Policy, the cumbersome and restrictive policy of students providing three SSNIT contributors as guarantors before they could access student loans for tertiary education has been abolished. The No Guarantor Student Loan Policy Dr. Bawumia explained, makes it possible for qualified young Ghanaians to access loans to fund their tertiary education, using their Ghana Card.

REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO EDUCATION

Speaking at the launch, Vice President Bawumia said, the coming into fruition of the pro-poor policy, will remove barriers and significantly increase inclusive access to tertiary education.

“The removal of the guarantor requirement is a critical first step to ensuring cost is not a barrier to access and participation in tertiary education,” Dr. Bawumia said.

“Indeed, these are exciting times to be a youth in Ghana. One can go through education from basic to tertiary with guaranteed support from Government.”

The Vice President noted that globally, loans have enabled financially challenged individuals to go through Universities and pay after graduation and the government of President Akufo-Addo recognised this need, and the challenges associated with students getting guarantors to secure loans, hence the introduction of the No Gurantor Policy to ease the burden of parents of qualified Free SHS graduates.

Expressing his delight over the launch of the policy and how it will help the poor, Dr. Bawumia gave startling statistics of how many students are unable to access guarantor-required student loans, thus, possibly being denied access to tertiary education.

“Evidence shows that the guarantor requirement poses a barrier to access. Out of the 325,000 eligible students whose details were submitted by all the tertiary institutions on the Student Loans portfolio, only 9.6% could access the loan in the 2019/20 academic year,’ Dr. Bawumia revealed.

“Similarly, only 8.4% of eligible students could access loans in 2016/2017, 9.8% in 2017/18, and 8.6% in 2015/16. Further, in the 2019/20 academic year, 42% of the 7,552 loan applicants could not submit their completed forms because of difficulty finding eligible guarantors,” he added.

“We promised to remove the guarantor requirement as a condition for loan access in the 2020 manifesto of the NPP. In fulfillment of this promise, the Government has revised the policy; hence, tertiary students will not have to present a Guarantor in order to access student loans. Effective this school year, all eligible tertiary students will have to submit their Ghana Card to access the loans,” Dr. Bawumia said.

Dr. Bawumia also expressed delight that the No Guarantor Student Loan Policy has been made possible through the Ghanacard thanks to the investment the government has made in digital infrastructure, which has made the Ghanacard a reliable national identity card for Ghanaians.

“This is one of the benefits we derive as a country by prioritizing digitalization. It is at the core of every serious economic management.”

Various Speakers at the ceremony, including the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, and the  President of NUGS, Dennis Appiah Larbi,  expressed gratitude to the government of President Akufo-Addo for the policy.

All the speakers agree the policy will open doors for more brilliant but needy students to access tertiary education which they usually miss out due to lack of funding.

Also present at the ceremony was the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, who expressed his Ministry’s commitment to ensuring the success of the policy.

The No Guarantor Student Loan Policy is another milestone in education after expanding access to secondary education through the Free SHS policy.

Qualified students are required to apply online to the Ghana Students Loan Trust with their Ghanacard and successful students will have their fees paid directly to their tertiary institutions.

WAEC Releases 2022 BECE Timetable for all candidates

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has released the 2022 BECE Timetable for all Candidates, both School and Private who are preparing to write the Junior High School leaving examination.

The released timetable for 2022 BECE shows that the 2022 examination will start on Monday 17th October 2022, and end on 21st October 2022. The first subject to be written will be Social Studie while the last paper is French.

BECE 2022 Examination Timetable

Government’s newly built Bosomtwe Girls STEM High school admits first batch of students

Bosomtwe Girls STEM: It is quite obvious that President Akufo-Addo’s agenda to train the next generation of leaders in science and technology is becoming a reality.

The first batch of admitted students of Bosomtwe Girls STEM High School, located at Bosomtwe in the Ashanti Region has begun reporting to school.

The government believes that building more Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) senior high schools will significantly transform Ghana’s education sector.

This is aimed at equipping young men and women with the necessary knowledge at an early stage.

The education ministry is hopeful that paying serious attention to STEM will help bridge the development gap between Ghana and other first-world countries since products from the schools would be well-placed to make a real impact by solving societal problems.

The STEM drive has received a significant boost as one of the STEM schools under construction in the Ashanti Region, the Bosomtwe Girls STEM High School, has begun admitting students.

“Now we have started to train leaders in engineering, leaders in aviation, medical leaders, and the rest. This alone is best for the nation. We promise that we are going to be one of the best in this nation,” Mary Donkor, the Headmistress of the school, noted.

Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has described this as a significant milestone, as he says while the government has provided the needed logistics to the school, more resources would be invested there as well as other STEM schools being worked on across the country.

“We’ve opened Bosomtwe Girls STEM High School. It is so nice to meet the students. They’ve come from all over the country. I’ve seen those from Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono and all over the country. This is going to be a national institution of excellence. The good news is that the science labs are done, the science equipment would be coming next week. They have a pick-up. Everything that the school needs is coming, so I’m excited”.

Some parents whose wards are among the pioneers attending the school are excited about the development.

“I started enquiring about the school when I heard of it from the Minister that it will be a STEM school for girls. It is necessary to equip the girls today, so they can grow up to be doctors, engineers, and the rest. I followed up on the progress of the school till I heard it has started operation. Although my daughter got admission into a top school, I insisted on admitting her to this school so that my daughter can benefit from the Minister’s vision. So I am calling on parents to bring their girl children who are yet to gain admission to any school to this school,” one of the parents stated.