The Trust Fund management in a statement copied to the CDA Consult in Accra and signed by Mr George Ferguson Laing, Senior Communications Manager denied media reports which seem to suggest that the teacher trainee allowance has been converted into a loan facility by the Government. “It is *NOT* a loan, and trainees will not be required to pay back as has been erroneously reported.

“For the avoidance of doubt we would like to state that, in line with Government policy to restore the allowance effective 2017/2018 academic year, the Ministry of Education has mandated the Students Loan Trust Fund to disburse the allowances,” the statement stated.

According to the statement the SLTF has been mandated by the Government to facilitate the payment of the allowance to trainees because it has the required systems and structures to do so. It said in a recent meeting with the Principals of the Colleges of Education (PRINCOF), the Trust Fund emphasised the need for the Principals to furnish it with lists of eligible students and other essential information in order for the allowances to be speedily disbursed.

The statement said, the disbursement of the allowances is an added service the Trust Fund is providing for the education sector in Ghana, and does not in any way detract from its core mandate which is to provide subsidised loans for Ghanaian tertiary students studying in accredited institutions nationwide.

“The Student Loan Trust Fund will approach this new task with the same diligence it has applied in providing equal access to tertiary financing since 2006/07 academic year,” the statement said. According to the Trust Fund, the disbursement process will lead to reduction of human influence over the procedure, due to the automation of the process, validation of students’ information to avoid payments to individuals that are not eligible, greater transparency and accountability.

The students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) was established in December 2005 under the Trustee Incorporation Act 1962, Act 106. As part of reforms to make accredited tertiary education more accessible to the majority of qualified Ghanaian students, the Government of Ghana passed the Student Loan Trust Fund Act, Act 820 (2011) for the efficient and effective disbursement of loans to tertiary students. The Trust Fund has the responsibility to recover loans from students after the completion of their tertiary education.

The principal objectives of the Trust Fund are to provide financial resources for the sound management of the Trust for the benefit of students and to help promote and facilitate the national ideals enshrined in Article 25 and 38 of the 1992 Constitution. Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) provides tailor made development communication tools necessary for operational transformation and translating dreams into achievable goals and equips clients with mechanism for public education on specific issues.

It also provides effective back-up or frontline monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure value for money delivery of projects, whilst providing clients with skills to deliver timely and accurate information on their activities, work, programmes and projects.

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It also assists client to use continuous and adaptive process of gathering, organising and formulating information and data into argument and to communicate to policy-makers through various interpersonal and mass media communication channels.