Parliament passes GETFund amendment to secure free education

Parliament has approved the Ghana Education Trust Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

A major policy shift that removes the cap on GETFund and expands its mandate to finance key components of Ghana’s education system, including free secondary education, free education for persons with special needs, and free tertiary education for persons with disabilities.

The amendment also makes the GETFund levy input tax-deductible, a move lawmakers say will strengthen revenue inflows to the Fund while easing pressure on families and improving access to education nationwide.

Before the Bill was passed on Thursday, December 11, Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu highlighted the significance of the reforms, stressing that the amendment is essential to ensuring sustainable funding for the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme.

“It will give assurance to the continuation of the free senior high school policy initiated by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2018, but it probably did not provide for a dedicated funding source for free senior high school,” he said.

Mr. Iddrisu explained that Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson’s decision to uncap GETFund ensures an expanded, predictable financing pool for educational development across the country.

“Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Ato Forson, Minister for Finance, decided to uncap the GETFund and to dedicate that financing so that additional resources are made available to finance education,” he stated.

The Minister further announced that the new amendment offers a historic breakthrough for persons living with disabilities, guaranteeing government-funded tertiary education for all qualified students with disabilities.

“When this law passes, we are assuring persons with disabilities of free tertiary education. So it means that any person who gains admission and is a person with disability to pursue higher education will receive support from the Government of Ghana, from President John Dramani Mahama. He is assured that he can go through his studies at the higher education level with support from the state.”

The passage of the Bill strengthens Ghana’s long-term educational financing framework and positions the GETFund as a central pillar in the government’s commitment to equitable, inclusive, and accessible education for all.