Worried by the poor state of many public tertiary institutions, the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Arc. Sonny Echono, recently made some recommendations to the federal government.
Since he assumed office, Echono has been preoccupied with finding lasting solutions to the perennial challenges confronting the country’s education sector, especially at the tertiary level.
The ES made gave the most recent admonition at the occasion to mark the 60th anniversary of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
Under the sub-heading, ‘Government Role in Tertiary Education’, Echono recommended that government should re-define its role by allowing full implementation of the 2004 Universities Miscellaneous (Autonomy) Act, which empowers University Councils to take full charge of their operations and development.
He also suggested that government should limit its role to overall policy framework, regulation, creation and strengthening of institutions such as NUC, TETFund, Education Bank, Federal Scholarship Board and a Students Loans Board, to enable it address the multifaceted challenges of education; that where government chooses to implement policies, “such as the ill-advised free tuition policy”, it should make full financial provisions for same as grant per student based on the costs of training for individual courses, established by University Governing Councils, and that government should continue to provide scholarship and bursary for exceptionally gifted scholars and verifiable indigent students based on income levels of parents and other discernable criteria.
Adding: “It should also provide dedicated funds for research and innovation to be accessed on strictly competitive bases.”
Speaking under what he captioned, “Enhanced Role for University Governing Councils”, TETFund boss noted that the composition of University Governing Councils should de-emphasize political patronage in favour of academic, business and policy expertise and disposition.
He was of the opinion that Governing Councils should determine the structure of fees based on revenue streams, including government grants and their cost structure. This he stated, will enable them pay the right wages to attract and retain the best brains as well as provide a conducive teaching and learning environment for national and global competitiveness.
“They should ensure that the nation’s universities operate on the strength of their balance sheets by demanding accountability and efficient harnessing and deployment of internally generated revenue”, he added.
On what he tagged, ‘Cost sharing by Stakeholders’, the ES stated that it has become expedient under the prevailing circumstances, to encourage students, who are primary beneficiaries, to contribute to the funding of the system through payment of tuition as a way of complementing government subventions and interventions.
“In fact, it is common knowledge that many state government owned institutions have already adopted this model, and the rest of society, including university alumni, faith-based and other philanthropic organizations, the organized private sector, professional associations and other stakeholders, should be encouraged to support tertiary education through endowments, partnerships and linkages as well as execution of designated projects on our campuses.”
On the need for partnerships, endowments, research grants and ventures, Echono tasked government institutions including TETFund, NUC and other relevant agencies to intensify efforts and investments to prepare and capacitate Nigerian tertiary institutions for effective competition in global research and innovation ecosystem.
He noted that such development will enhance their relevance and upgrade their financial infrastructure base;
He said: “Our institutions should be supported to explore partnerships and collaboration with funding agencies and development partners, both at home and abroad, to attract support and complementary resources. The institutions should strengthen their Research and Development activities and ensure effective linkage and collaboration with industry towards the commercialization of their research outputs to generate revenue and sustain the system.
“They should establish functional Business Development Offices to support fund-raising and pursue knowledge intensive business opportunities as well as opportunities for research grant funding, and tertiary institutions should device innovative ways of engaging in entrepreneurship initiatives and explore commercial opportunities to guarantee self-sufficiency.”
Concluding, Echono reiterated that the future of tertiary education in Nigeria lies in sustainable funding. This he noted, is clearly rooted in sharing costs among stakeholders, greater autonomy for tertiary institutions and diversification of income sources.
Others include creating alternative sources of income, building partnerships at home and abroad as well as creating wealth beyond teaching and research.
