The Vice President and NPP Presidential Candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has consistently affirmed that expanding educational opportunities for all Ghanaians will be a central priority of his administration, particularly as part of his efforts to empower the youth.

During his recent engagement with Ghanaian youth in Accra, Dr Bawumia highlighted three main areas of focus for empowering the youth should he become President: education, skills training, and creating a supportive economic environment for private-sector job creation, alongside government initiatives.

Dr Bawumia emphasised that education is crucial to both youth development and national progress. He stated that his government would build on the substantial investments the NPP has made in education in recent years.

With approximately 5.7 million children benefiting from Free SHS since its inception in 2017, along with significant investments in TVET, Dr Bawumia revealed that his focus would be on expanding educational opportunities at all levels, including tertiary education.

Here are the 12 bold steps Dr Bawumia outlined to ensure expanded access to education for all:

1. Increase the availability of student accommodation in public universities and other tertiary institutions to address the housing deficit on campuses and make accommodation affordable.
2. Introduce a Free Tertiary Education Scholarship for persons with disabilities (PWDs) to remove financial barriers to higher education.
3. Integrate scholarship databases across all public sector institutions managing these schemes to ensure transparency and visibility.
4. Expand eligibility for the Student Loan Scheme to include all post-secondary students, including those enrolled in certificate and diploma programmes.
5. Prioritise a significant portion of national scholarship schemes for training and skills development in STEM fields.
6. Fully implement the Centralised Applications Processing Service (CAPS) for tertiary institutions, enabling students to apply once and pay once.
7. Establish an Open University to increase access to higher education.
8. Protect and enhance the Free SHS/TVET programmes, which are transforming lives and improving life outcomes for millions, by providing additional financial support.
9. Recruit more teachers at all levels and improve their conditions of service.
10. Continue to develop additional infrastructure in educational institutions to meet increasing enrolment.
11. Offer incentives for teachers to purchase one vehicle each, with an engine capacity of up to 1,800cc.
12. Continue to support teacher trainees with the payment of the teacher trainee allowance.

These 12 initiatives are intended to create expanded, affordable educational opportunities for all Ghanaians, fostering a foundation for national development and youth empowerment.