Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (Rtd), the former Chief of Defence Staff, has questioned President John Dramani Mahama’s proposal to pay fees for first-year public tertiary students.
It should be noted that, in the run-up to the 2024 general election, Mr Mahama introduced the “no fees stress policy,” which intends to waive tuition fees for first-year students at state higher institutions.
The strategy proposes to provide subsidies to universities to cover expenditures, easing the financial strain on students graduating from senior high school.
However, Brigadier General Nunoo-Mensah (Rtd) questioned the initiative’s necessity, arguing that parents should be responsible for their children’s higher education.
During a stakeholder engagement at O’Reilly Senior High School in Accra on January 15, he stated:
“Why pay for them? What is the essence of tertiary education? What use is it? You do not need to pay for it. Come on, it’s unnecessary.
He emphasized:
If someone wishes to pursue tertiary education, their parents should be able to fund it because they are unnecessary. I do not need them. They complete, and then they stroll around Accra looking for jobs. They can’t even produce enough solar energy to power our lights. They can’t do anything, so don’t waste our money with them.
He also stated his intention to counsel President Mahama directly, adding:
I am going to tell President John Dramani Mahama that it is not necessary. But they won’t listen to me because they’re politicians and I am not.
The retired brigadier general also criticized the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) program.
It’s the wrong policy. They should have encouraged the parents to pay. Those who were unable to pay should have applied for scholarships.
Meanwhile, President Mahama has vowed to enact the “No Academic Fee Policy” for all first-year students at public tertiary institutions within the first 120 days of his government.