President Muhammadu Buhari on wednesday approved the 2023 financial disbursement of over 320 billion Naira as intervention funds to public tertiary institutions in line with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) approved guidelines.
The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Sonny Echonor made this known at the 2023 Annual Strategic Planning Workshop Organized for TETFUND Beneficiary Institutions in Abuja.
Echonor disclosed that President Buhari approved the sum of N320,345,040, 835. (Three hundred and twenty billion, three hundred & forty-five million,Forty thousand, eight hundred & thirty-five Naira only) for the public tertiary institutions in the country.
Each university gets one point one five billion Naira, Each polytechnic gets six hundred and ninety nine million naira and each Colleges of education gets eight hundred million naira.
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According to the Federal Government, the disbursements are the highest since 1999.
President Muhammadu Buhari has however received commendations from the education ministry permanent secretary, Daniel Adejo the executive Secretaries National Universities Commission, Abubakar Rasheed and the Colleges of education commission, Paulinus, but the NBTE executive secretary, Idris Bugaje reacted differently.
In their remarks, the Executive Secretary, National Board For Technical Education, Prof. Idris Bugaje immediately criticized the disbursement, insisting it is less than 0.2 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP and a far cry from accrued 2.5 percent education tax.
Bugaje therefore called for increased action on intervention funds, describing TETFUND Interventions as the source of infrastructural development for public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
Adequate funding of tertiary institutions has been a major challenge for the Nigerian government and a major bone of contention for strikes by academic and non-academic staff.
Since TETfund establishment in 1993, intervention funds have been disbursed yearly, yet poor funding bedevils the country’s institutions.
Stakeholders have also appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to assent to the Finance Bill, before the end of its tenure, which makes Education tax 3 percent.
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