The Student Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) has announced that the government will begin deducting student loan repayments directly from the salaries of more than 4,000 public sector workers with outstanding loan obligations from July 2026.

Chief Executive Officer of the SLTF, Dr Saajida Shiraz, disclosed the move on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, saying the arrangement had been agreed upon with the Controller and Accountant-General's Department as part of efforts to improve loan recovery.

"We are working through the modalities, but I have the assurance of the department that starting July 2026, we should be able to have deductions from them," she said.

The announcement follows revelations by the Controller and Accountant-General, Kwesi Agyei, that thousands of workers on the government payroll have failed to repay loans they obtained from the Fund.

Dr Shiraz said recovering outstanding loans is essential to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the scheme and enabling more students to access financial support for tertiary education.

"We hope it will help us significantly. The work we do is good work, and the sustainability of the Fund is important because when you pay back your student loan, we are able to help other students benefit from it," she explained.

She revealed that the Fund missed its loan recovery target in 2025, collecting GH¢90 million against a target of GH¢120 million, despite more than GH¢300 million being due.

"Last year, for instance, we failed to meet our repayment target. We had a target of GH¢120 million, but we were only able to recover GH¢90 million. What was actually due was more than GH¢300 million," she disclosed.

According to Dr Shiraz, the collaboration with the Controller and Accountant-General's Department marks the first of several institutional partnerships aimed at strengthening the Fund's loan recovery efforts.

She added that the SLTF has also initiated discussions with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to establish a data-sharing arrangement that will help trace borrowers outside the public sector payroll system.

"We have started engagements with the Ghana Revenue Authority and are working on the modalities for a data-sharing arrangement, which would help us collect repayments from people who are not tied to employment in the public sector," she said.

The Fund believes the expanded recovery strategy will improve repayment compliance, strengthen its financial sustainability, and increase its capacity to support more students pursuing higher education.