Education Minister Directs University Of Ghana To Decrease Residential Fees By 25%

The Education Minister Directs University Of Ghana To Decrease Residential Fees By 25%. Financial burden has been the utmost problem of many Ghanaian parents and students.

Many SHS graduates still live in the house simply because their parents cannot afford the fees. Implementing fee charges without the concern of parents or the students can be a great atrocity to families struggling to settle fees of their children in schools.

The minister has made a good intervention about this current one regarding the University of Ghana.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has directed the University of Ghana to reduce its residential facility fees by 25% for both first-year and continuing students.

The directive came in to address the university’s recent 20% increase in accommodation fees, which raised the annual charge to GHc 3,000 for the 2024/2025 academic year. The fee adjustment sparked widespread discontent among learners and parents, leading to calls for government intervention.

Speaking at a meeting with the Student’s Representative Council (SRC) and the university’s management at the ministry on 6th February 2025, Thursday.

The minister declared that the reduction would decrease the fee from GHc 3,000 to GHc 2,500. He also said, “I have asked the vice chancellor to reduce the residential facility fees by 25% and have also directed her to engage with SRC in the future before announcing any fee adjustments.”

Vice-chancellor Professor Nana Aba Amfo assured the minister of the university’s compliance with the directive and emphasised the institution’s commitment to addressing learners concerns.

“We have listened to you, our minister, and also to our students, and we can afford to implement the 25% reduction across the board. Going forward, there will be better student engagement in such decisions.”

Reacting to the announcement, Maradona Adjei Yeboah, the SRC President, also known as Guru, expressed gratitude for the fee reduction but insisted that students who had already paid the full amount should receive refunds.

READ: NUGS gives WAEC one week to release all withheld 2024 WASSCE results

“We appreciate the reduction; it will ease some of the financial burden on parents. However, there should be a refund for those who have already made payments.”

University management revealed that approximately 80% of learners had already paid for their residential facility fees. The institution is expected to release further guidelines on how it will make implementations on the revised charges.