The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says it will abolish the guarantor system demanded from tertiary students before their loans are approved by the Student Loan Trust Fund.
The NPP says it will do this if Ghanaians extend its mandate on December 7, 2020.
According to the party, this has become necessary because it has observed that a number of students are denied loans because they are unable to provide a guarantor.
Speaking at the launch of the NPP’s 2020 manifesto in the Central Region on Saturday, August 22, 2020, Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said such hindrances for tertiary students will be a thing of the past.
“If you look at Ghana, our gross tertiary is less than 17 percent. So if we are to catch and build the human capital which will help us transform the economy, then we have to get more enrollment into the tertiary sectors. One of the problems for students in getting enrollment and access is affordability. Whether it is enrollment into the public or private universities, the ability to get the money…is also a high bottleneck because when these senior high students graduate many of them will look to go for tertiary education and we have to facilitate their ability to do so.”
“So we have a major promise; a policy initiative which we say all tertiary students except teacher and trainees who will be on the allowance will be able to get the option to obtain a student loan without the requirement of the guarantor. The problem for many tertiary students is the current scheme asks for guarantors and a lot of people are not willing to put their pensions on the line so many are not able to access the student loan. So you don’t need a guarantor and all you need is your national ID card. That’s all and you will be accessing your loan and once you complete your education, repayment will be deferred after your tertiary education. You will get one year grace period after your national service, then you start paying,” he promised.
