Include private varsities in TETFund intervention, VC appeals to FG

The vice chancellor of Evangel University, Okpoto in Ebonyi state, Professor Idika Kalu, has appealed to the federal government to include private universities in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention.

Kalu made the appeal during a media interaction in his office Wednesday, saying that it was regrettable that private universities were excluded from the fund.

He said that denying private universities TETFund support to finance their academic programmes, including research and infrastructural development, amounted to great injustice.

He stressed that the main aim of every academic institution was to contribute to nation-building through imparting knowledge and character moulding rather than profit-making.

Kalu said that the university, which is owned by the Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria, was established to provide quality education in line with international standard.

He said that private universities offered the same academic services like their government-owned counterparts, hence the need for them to enjoy similar financial assistance from the federal government.

Kalu hinged the high fees charged by private universities on the enormous financial burden they bear in the attempt to maintain the best minimum standard required by the regulatory agencies.

“The establishment of universities all over the world is usually not for profits.

“Most of the foremost universities in the world started as faith-based, some were established by individuals and families with trust.

“So, one cannot break even in a life time for establishing a university, no matter the fee the person or organisation charges.

“Imagine a university established with N10 billion, what fee will students pay within the life time of the proprietor to make him recover the capital.

“Students in private universities should be made to enjoy the education tax paid by oil companies operating in Nigeria, which is collected as TETFund.

“Our lecturers should also be given the opportunity to benefit from research grants from the fund.

“These private universities will still have to pay very high salary bills and meet up with the requirements of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and maintain their learning facilities for best academic performance.

“Because education is a highly regulated industry, we have to meet the demand and benchmark required of us,” the VC said.

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