AMEND TETFUND LAW TO MAKE PRIVATE VARSITIES ACCESS FUNDS, VC TELLS FG, NASS

Vice-Chancellor, Ajayi Crowther University (ACU) Oyo, Prof. Timothy Adebayo, has called on the Federal Government and National Assembly to amend the law establishing Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to enable private universities access funds from the agency.

Adebayo, who made the call while addressing journalists in his office, said the amendment is imperative considering the contribution of private institutions to university education.

The VC said private universities are pivotal to the educational development of the country. He said: “Private universities have been helping to mitigate the pressure of public universities, but they have been hampered by funding, given that most of them do not receive subvention from any other source aside school fees paid by students and donations from philanthropists. We give quality education to students and it requires funding to do so.

“At the level of Committee of Vice Chancellors (CVC), we have made several presentations to the Federal Government and National Assembly but the response is that the law establishing TETFund does not empower it to give to private universities.

“Staff and students of private universities are Nigerians and should not be deprived of benefiting from public funds, which they contribute to. Doing so, the vice chancellor noted, would alleviate findings problems, and perhaps, mitigate the fees and get charged.”