The Member of Parliament for Kpone-Katamanso Constituency, Honorable Joseph Akuertey Tetteh has recounted the sum of money he as a member of parliament has spent in funding the tertiary fees of some students in his constituency.
In a branch campaign meeting with his constituents in a suburb of Kpone-Katamanso known as Pinkwai, seized the opportunity to recount the efforts he has been making in order to provide financial supports to some needy but brilliant students in the constituency.
According Honorable Joseph Tetteh, the Flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress which is also the political party he is a member of, there is a campaign message for all first year tertiary students as he detailed it out to his party folks.
“I know that all of us here have our children who have completed SHS and are applying for tertiary education; but if your child secures an admission and there are deadlines for payments of school fees and there is no money to pay for the fees and your child looses such an opportunity, that is when you will realize that it is painful.
“So John Mahama says that, if your child is going for first year, you won’t pay for any school fees, it is free. NDC loves people, the flag bearer is doing all this in order to reduce the pressure of funding your ward’s first year’s tertiary fees away,” he said at the campaign grounds on Sunday, September 29, 2024.
Honorable Joseph Akuertey Tetteh further added that, if the next national Democratic Congress party wins the elections and secures the mandate of forming the next government, the implementation of the free first year tertiary education will enable parents to save money in order to fund for their wards school fees.
“If ward makes it to the tertiary and successfully completes the first year on government’s funding, he or she still has the opportunity to have access to student loans.” He also added his personal experience during his days at the university and how it was funded, “me speaking to you, I received some of the the student loan and when I completed my tertiary education, I had a job which aided me in servicing the debt. So that is how government intend to support after the free first year tertiary education.”
The law-maker then indicated the financial support he has been able to provide to some tertiary education students who are fortunate to enjoy such privileges by virtue of the fact that they are constituents of Kpone-Katamanso.
“Me standing here, I also pay fees for students who are in the tertiary institution. As I speak to you, about GHs400,000 is the total amount of money I have invested in the funding of fees for tertiary students,” he stated.
He then argued that, “before a student can have access to his scholarship program, it takes a period of three months to process. And by the time I complete the process, if care is not taken, the deadline would up to and that brings pressure upon me to go seek for funding from somewhere else for the student but John Mahama’s policy would permit me to have more time to process the access his scholarship program for students who apply for it,” Hon. Joseph Akuertey Tetteh added.
