The implementation of the government’s No-Fee-Stress policy has come under criticism from Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who says the arrangement is failing to deliver the relief promised to tertiary students.

The NPP National Communications Director aspirant argues that requiring newly admitted students to pay their fees upfront and subsequently seek reimbursement places the financial burden on students and their families.

The policy, according to Mr Aboagye, was intended to ensure that government pays the fees of eligible newly admitted tertiary students directly to their institutions, allowing them to begin their education without first having to raise money to settle their fees.

He said the current reimbursement arrangement particularly disadvantages students from low-income households who may be unable to raise the required funds in the first place.

He also argued that the system is not substantially different from existing student financing arrangements, in which students must pay their fees before receiving financial support.

Speaking on Channel One TV on Tuesday, August 11, Mr Aboagye described the arrangement as “post-stress” rather than the promised stress-free payment system.

“Not a single Ghanaian child has received stress-free fees. All of them. Not a single one. The two batches. What they have received, rather, is post-stress,” he said.

He maintained that the government’s original promise was to eliminate the need for students to take out loans before enrolling, insisting that requiring them to pay upfront defeats the policy's central objective.

“The government promised those people that you don’t have to go and stress to look for a loan... Now the government comes to office, and then he says that, you know, I said that you won’t go through stress. But you say, okay, go and stress. If you manage to find money in your stress and go and pay, then you can apply for a refund,” he added.