Chidimma UCHEGBU
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), said on Tuesday that its collection of education tax in the current fiscal is the highest in a single year since inception.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sunny Echono, who disclosed this, appreciated the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, for its diligent efforts in collecting the education taxes.
Echono spoke in Abuja at an Interactive session with heads of beneficiary institutions on the disbursement guidelines for 2024 intervention cycle, where he noted that the 2023 collection is being allocated by the fund for the 2024 intervention projects.
The TETFund boss also attributed the high revenue to increases approved by the former and present administrations to 3 per cent of accessible profit and other factors diligently implemented by the FIRS in collaboration with the TETFund.
Speaking on the proposed areas of focus under the 2024 intervention programme, he said TETFund has budgeted a significant increase in annual direct disbursements in response to improvement in tax collections.
According to him, 90.54 per cent of taxes generated is budgeted for direct disbursement and designated 6.5 per cent for some projects and 2.94 for stabilisation to enable the fund respond to emerging issues, all of which are subject to final distribution/approvals.
He added that the proposed new interventions in the annual direct disbursement include the establishment of Career Centre/Unit in all categories of beneficiary institutions, as well as institution-based skills development for polytechnics to improve the employability and career prospects of students.
“For the Special Direct Disbursement, we have increased the allocation and number of beneficiary institutions for the Special High Impact Programme (SHIP),” he said, adding that SHIP will also focus on “provision of hostels using the Public Private Partnership arrangement for selected Beneficiary institutions.”
“We have sustained provisions for: Disaster recovery, Security Infrastructure; and Completion of abandoned projects. We have also sustained allocations for Research including National Research Fund Research and Innovation Fund, Up take of research findings to commercialization Supervision of scholars Phd research.
“We have made provision for 4nos Central Multipurpose Laboratories and an additional provision for the 3nos Agricultural Laboratories/Farms initiated in 2023. We have sustained the implementation of the ICT roadmap with provision for converged services, subscription services for fixed cable /internet access and the TERAS initiative.
“There will be upgrade of Laboratories, Workshops and Equipment to Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (Technical) for the 2024 Intervention Year. There will also be the Early grade resource centers phase II to Colleges of Education (NCCE).
“Other areas of provision in the budget are: Take-off grants as directed by the Federal Government, Higher Education book development programme, providing for the Shortfall arising from fluctuations in foreign exchange in the ASTD Programme for our foreign scholars, Additional 6 nos Entrepreneurship innovation hubs to selected Polytechnics and COEs, and National Skills development programme for polytechnics and Colleges of Education (Technical),” he said.
He described the year 2023 as “an impactful year that has witnessed series of programs such as the development of the TETFund ICT roadmap culminating in the deployment of the BIMS and launching of the TERAS platforms, the commencement of the designs and strategy for the innovation Hubs to selected beneficiary institutions, and the constitution of the committee for the establishment of two central research laboratories.”
Echono expressed the fund’s determination “to deepen research, promote innovation and honing of skills, encourage the discovery and development of creative talents amongst our scholars and especially the students as a major pillar of the renewed hope agenda of the present administration.
He appealed to external stakeholders, including the National Assembly, to minimize distractions as TETFund mobilizes, harnesses and efficiently deploys all hands to the plough in restoring the tertiary institutions to the enviable heights envisioned by President Bola Tinubu.
He also called on all heads of institutions present to ensure the smooth and timely, implementation of the Year 2023 allocation before the commencement of the 2024 intervention cycle.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr David Andrew Adejo, described TETFund as one of the agencies that give succour to government when problems with unions in tertiary institutions arise.
Adejo commended the management of the fund for deciding to raise the disbursement percentage to 90.54 per cent instead of leaving it at the over 80 per cent disbursed in 2023.
According to him, the current administration has started weaning universities, polytechnics and colleges of education of government resources, something that should have begun long ago, adding that at the end of the session, heads of institutions would decide what guidelines to adopt.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of National Commission foe Colleges of Education, NCCE, Prof Paulinus Okwelle, who also commended the fund for its activities, said in colleges of education across the country, there are no abandoned projects.
Okwelle said some projects started by the fund in 2023 were already being commissioned, indicating that provosts of the colleges were doing very well in supervising the projects.
He however called for the maintenance of old infrastructures in some colleges of education as they were gradually decaying, stating that NCCE will continue to collaborate with the fund to ensure that all its effort in the colleges is successful.
