Academic And Residential User Fees Increased

Government has reviewed fees for both secondary and tertiary institutions. In announcing the new fees government said it was absorbing most of the fees, which translates into billions of cedis. The residential facilities user fees to be paid by tertiary students have been increased to 195,000 cedis ($28). The academic users fees for the various programmes have also been increased by 15 percent.

The increments, which are far below what the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) proposed, was arrived at after meetings between the committee, the Education Ministry and students. The CVCP had proposed a 30 percent increment in academic facility user fees and a flat rate of 275,000 cedis per student for residential facility user fees.

In scaling down the fees, the government has agreed to settle the utility bills of students and the difference between last year and the agreed levels. The Minister for Education, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi told a news conference that government will be spending approximately 18 billion cedis to offset these bills.

Students studying Humanities, Sciences and Medicine will be paying additional amounts ranging between 40,000 and 90,000 cedis. He also announced that government has decided that the fees of second cycle institutions should not be increased.

After a comprehensive review, government will absorb legitimate fees, which are common to both boarders and day students. These commitments are to ensure that people are not denied their right to education, the Minister added.