Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has revealed that an amount of GH¢499.8 million has been allocated for the No-Academic-Fee policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions.

This, he says, was done under the ‘No-Fees-Stress’ initiative.

"Mr Speaker, an amount of GH¢499.8 million has been allocated for the No-Academic-Fee policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions under the ‘No-Fees-Stress’ initiative," Ato Forson announced while presenting the 2025 Budget in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11.

The allocation aligns with the promise made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, President John Mahama, that first-year tertiary students will not pay academic fees.

According to him, the initiative aims to ease the financial burden on parents financing their children's education.

Additionally, the Finance Minister noted that the government has allocated GH¢3.5 billion for the Free Secondary Education programme this year. To further strengthen education financing, the GETFund cap has been removed, making an additional GH¢4.1 billion available for Free SHS and related expenditures.

The government has also absorbed the debt servicing (both interest and principal) from the Daakye bond contracted under GETFund, he added.

According to him, in the government's bid to improve learning resources, the budget includes GH¢564.6 million for free curricula-based textbooks, covering four sets of KG books and workbooks for about 2.8 million learners, four sets of primary textbooks for 800,000 learners, and nine sets of JHS 3 textbooks for 540,000 learners.

Dr Forson also revealed that GH¢292.4 million has been earmarked for the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools to support menstrual hygiene and improve school attendance.