Some lecturers and staff of public universities in the Ashanti Region have endorsed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) "No Academic Fees" policy for first-year students of all public tertiary institutions, indicating it will adequately prepare the youth for the job market.

They believe students who truncate their education at the Senior High School level for financial reasons will be in an advantageous position.

Member, Prof Nathaniel Bossu believes the policy together with the proposed improvement of the Free SHS policy will be a game-changing initiative for the country.

“If Free SHS was feasible, then Free first-year university is also feasible. The money is there but what is important is how efficiently that is used”, he said.

He emphasised, “We know the average salaries of a Ghanaian worker, imagine that individual has two children in the university, what kind of opportunity we can create for them. People are really suffering,” he added.

Aside from the proposed free tertiary education in the first year, the NDC intends to reintroduce the Student Loan Trust Fund Plus for continuing students to aid fee payment.

In 2022, only 164 thousand of the 446 thousand beneficiaries of Free SHS were able to proceed to tertiary institutions.

According to the pro-NDC university teachers and staff, the shortfall could be attributed to financial constraints.

Driven by the policies to improve education, the staff of the universities walked through the streets to explain the policies of the NDC.

Leaflets and flyers were shared with the electorate. The group is optimistic of an NDC victory in the upcoming election.