TETFund received N251 billion for projects in 2020 | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
10th December 2020
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) said it has so far received N251 billion in 2020.
That is from its projected N277 billion for the year.
This was revealed by TETFund Chairman, Board of Trustees, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam in Lagos.
Ibrahim-Imam, was speaking in Ikeja during the TETfund/FIRS 2020 Joint Interactive Forum on Wednesday.
EduCeleb.com understands that TETFund money is sourced from tax revenue generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) each year.
He added that the Fund expects a revenue of N500 billion next year.
On the issue of hostel accommodation for students in universities, the Board Chairman reiterated that the Fund would soon embark on the construction of 2000 bed space hostel accommodation across institutions in the country.
He however clarified that “It is to be done in partnership with the private sector.”
According to him, “I think the parents and guardians should be willing to pay maybe N50,000 annually for a bed space. In some private universities, people pay about N1 million annually for a bed space”.
He also revealed that for the about 226 public institutions being supported by the Fund, in the year 2020, each university gets an average of N800 million support and each polytechnic about N750 million.
On the call by some people for the Fund to also assist private institutions, Ibrahim-Imam said that would be against the reasons for setting up TETfund.
“We are not competing with the private institutions, we are competing against them. Our mandate is to get our public universities to surpass the level of the private institutions. So, the answer to that is capital NO. We cannot fund the private institutions,” he said.
The ES of TETfund, Prof. Bogoro, while reacting to some questions, said those calling for the inclusion of Colleges of Agriculture and the Law School in the support list of the Fund were not considering the law that set up the Fund.
“The Colleges of Agriculture were delisted in 2011 because the law that set up the Fund does not incorporate mono-technics that they are.
“Those also canvassing supporting private universities are not conversant with the data of students in public and private universities. Over 96 per cent of the students in our universities are in public ones,” he said.
The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Muhammad Nami, in his speech, said the Service would continue to support the Fund and that it would do everything to let the Fund meet its target.
“We are pleased with what TETfund has done with the money given to it and we are ready to also support it the more. We are partners on progress and we will continue to be,” he said.