President Mahama Launches Free Tertiary Education for Persons with Disabilities
In a momentous step toward building an inclusive Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama has launched the Free Tertiary Education initiative for Persons with Disabilities, a promise he made during the 2024 election campaign. The unveiling took place on October 24, 2025, at the Accra College of Education, under the inspiring theme “Disability Not Inability: Advancing Inclusive Access to Higher Education under the Reset Agenda.” This policy, integrated into the broader “No Fees Stress” framework, eliminates tuition and related fees for all eligible persons with disabilities pursuing studies in public tertiary institutions, ensuring that financial hurdles no longer bar the path to knowledge and opportunity.
President Mahama, addressing a gathering that included Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, Student Loan Trust Fund CEO Saajida Shiraz, and Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations President Joseph Atsu Homadzi, framed the launch not as charity, but as a profound act of justice and equality. “We are fulfilling a sacred duty to every Ghanaian, especially the over two million living with disabilities, as revealed by the 2021 census,” he declared, echoing Nelson Mandela’s wisdom that a nation’s true measure lies in how it uplifts its most vulnerable. He reflected on past milestones—ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012 during his first term and the 2006 Persons with Disabilities Act—while announcing bold new reforms: a modernized Persons with Disabilities Act, stricter enforcement of a 5% employment quota for persons with disabilities in public and private sectors, and an increase in District Assemblies Common Fund allocations for disability support from 3% to 5% starting next year.
The initiative will roll out through a fully digitized Student Loan Trust Fund, promising seamless, transparent disbursements to cover full costs without bureaucratic delays. To bolster sustainability, the Ghana Education Trust Fund has committed GH¢50 million annually, a directive from Mahama himself, underscoring his administration’s resolve to make education a right, not a privilege. Homadzi, speaking for the disability community, hailed the move as a game-changer, one that ends the “financial struggles” many face and empowers them to contribute fully to national development. As Mahama put it, “When we include and empower, we multiply our progress”—a vision now turning into reality, one educated mind at a time. This delivery on a key pledge signals not just policy, but a renewed ethos of solidarity, proving that in Ghana’s reset era, no one is left behind.
