Minister for Education Haruna Iddrisu has assured Parliament that the government’s “No Fee Stress” policy is being implemented successfully, with all financial commitments for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years fully honoured.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, June 18, 2026, the Minister stated that the necessary funds have been released and are currently being distributed through the Student Loan Trust Fund, which is responsible for administering the programme.

According to Mr. Iddrisu, the Ministry of Finance has provided sufficient funding to support both the “No Fee Stress” initiative and the free tertiary education programme for students living with disabilities.

“The Minister for Finance has made adequate releases to the Student Loan Trust Fund, which is implementing the ‘No Fee Stress’ programme as well as free education for persons with disabilities,” he told Members of Parliament.

He emphasized that the government has no outstanding debts or unpaid obligations under the programme for either of the two academic years.

“There is no outstanding obligation in respect of the ‘No Fee Stress’ programme for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years,” the Minister stated.

Mr. Iddrisu explained that the role of implementing agencies is primarily to verify applicants before funds are disbursed. This process includes confirming the identity of beneficiaries, their enrolment status, and whether they qualify as first-year students.

“Our responsibility is to ensure proper authentication. We verify that the applicant is a genuine student, belongs to the institution indicated, and is a first-year student before payment is made,” he explained.

He noted that once the verification process is completed, the funds are released without delay.

The Education Minister also recalled commitments made by government during an engagement at Takoradi Technical University concerning support for technical and vocational education institutions.

He revealed that government intends, from 2027, to allocate a minimum of GH¢10 million from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to each technical university in the country. The proposed allocation is expected to amount to approximately GH¢100 million nationwide.

Mr. Iddrisu reaffirmed government’s determination to make tertiary education more accessible and ensure that financial challenges do not prevent qualified students from pursuing higher education.

He added that payments under the “No Fee Stress” policy are ongoing and that the programme continues to operate without any arrears or funding backlog.