President John Dramani Mahama has launched a new policy offering free tertiary education to Persons with Disability (PWD) under the broader No Fee Stress Initiative.
Speaking at the Accra Teachers’ Training College on October 24, the President outlined several interventions the government is implementing to enhance access to higher education for PWDs across the country.
President Mahama disclosed that the government is collaborating with relevant stakeholders to enforce a five percent employment quota for PWDs in both the public and private sectors.
According to the president, private sector organizations that meet the quota will be given tax incentives, while making it compulsory for public sectors to annually report through their ministers.
President Mahama said, “next year in the district assembly’s common fund formula, we intend to increase the allocation to persons with disability from three percent to five percent.”
Chief Executive Officer of the Student Loan Trust Fund, Dr. Saajida Shiraz stated that this move is targeted at eliminating the financial obstacles that usually hinders the education of students with disabilities.
Dr. Shiraz noted since the launch of the No Fee Stress initiative, the fund has disbursed monies to cater for the full payment of the school fees of students with disabilities across the state’s public tertiary institutions.
“As part of these, validated first-year students with disabilities have received reimbursements not just for the academic fees but for their full fees as promised. We have taken learnings from the pilot implementation of the no fee stress initiative and to maximize accessibility for persons with disabilities; students with disabilities are no longer required to submit applications to the student’s loan trust fund. Instead, public tertiary institutions will provide a validated list of students with disabilities to the SLTF tertiary institutions portal and their full fees will be disbursed,” she disclosed.
Meanwhile, speaking on Channel One TV, president of the Ghana Federation of Disabilities Organizations (GFD), Joseph Atsu Homadzi commended government on the fulfillment of the policy as a manifesto promise.
He stated that this new initiative will ensure inclusivity, while promoting access to quality education for PWDs.
“It’s going to give us a big financial relief and give the opportunity to our people to access quality education in Ghana. So, we are very grateful to them,” he added
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Source: Benjamin Hutchful/ATLFMNEWS
