Deputy Minister for Education, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, has urged staff of the Students Loan Trust Fund to prioritise transparency and integrity in their operations.
Dr. Apaak delivered the charge on Monday during the commissioning of a new zonal office of the Students Loan Trust Fund in Tamale to serve the northern regions of Ghana.
Addressing staff and invited guests, he stressed that institutional trust is built through consistency and ethical conduct.
“Transparency must always define your operations. Service excellence, accountability and integrity are not optional; they are the foundation of public confidence,” he said.
The Deputy Minister described the opening of the Northern Zonal Office as a significant milestone in the government’s tertiary financing reforms.
According to him, the new office represents a deliberate decentralisation reform aimed at bringing student loan services closer to beneficiaries.
“This is not just an administrative expansion,” Dr. Apaak noted. “It is a financing access intervention, a governance enhancement measure and a strategic investment in human capital development.”
He explained that the establishment of the office in Tamale would reduce bureaucratic delays, ease travel burdens on students across the northern sector and improve responsiveness in loan processing and recovery.
Dr. Apaak indicated that equity in tertiary education must move beyond policy rhetoric to concrete systems that work.
“What we are witnessing today signals that equity in tertiary education is being operationalised through institutional strengthening,” he stated.
He further urged staff of the Fund to view the new office as more than a physical structure.
“Let this office stand not only as a building, but as evidence that policy commitments can be translated into functional systems that serve citizens effectively,” he said.
The Deputy Minister encouraged officers to uphold professionalism in all engagements with students and stakeholders, adding that the credibility of the Fund depends on consistent service delivery.
The Northern Zonal Office is expected to cater for students and institutions across the northern regions, improving access to financing to students in those areas.