From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N320,345,040,835, as the 2023 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention fund for public tertiary education institutions in the country, notably, universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The money was, expectedly, realised from the statutory 2.5 per cent education tax and, perhaps, other windows of financial interventions.
Breakdown of the figure, however, indicated that each university will receive N1,154,732,133; polytechnic will N699,344,867; while each college of education will get N800,862,602.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, who disclosed the information in Abuja, yesterday, during the fund’s annual strategic planning workshop with heads of beneficiary institutions, confirmed the disbursement is the highest so far.
Echono said the meeting was an avenue to receive feedback and evaluate the performance of TETFund’s intervention lines to enable for a more robust delivering of the agency’s mandate.
“I am pleased to inform you that Mr. President has approved the 2023 disbursement guidelines in the total sum of N320,345,040,835. On the basis of this, each university shall get, for 2023 intervention cycle, N1,154,732,133.00.
“This comprises of N954,732,123.00, as annual direct disbursement and N200 million as zonal intervention. Similarly, each polytechnic shall get N699,344,867.00, comprising of N569,344,807 as annual direct disbursement and N130 million as zonal intervention, while each college of education shall get N800,862,602 comprising of N670,862,602.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130 million as zonal intervention.
“It is pertinent to note that this represents the highest disbursement to each beneficiary institution, since inception of the fund.”
Echono further said the fortunes of the Nigerian tertiary education sector has improved significantly under the Buhari’s administration.
“Between 2015 to date (eight years), the total sum of N1.702 trillion has been disbursed as education tax collection to public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education compared to a total sum of N1.249 trillion disbursed from the inception of the fund in 1993 up to 2014 (21 years).
“This remarkable success was due to sustained efforts at expanding and increasing efficiency of collection of the education tax, and added impetus is the gracious approval of Mr. President for an increase in education tax from 2.0 per cent to 2.5 per cent in 2021,” he said.
Echono, thus urged Buhari to, as a parting gift to the education sector, assent to Finance Bill 2023, which provides for a further increase in education tax from 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, urged the beneficiary institutions to use the intervention judiciously, stressing that the country is no longer looking for paper presentations but what one can do with his brain and hands.