Vice chancellor of Muhammad Kamalud-Deen University, Ilorin in Kwara State, Prof. Rasheed Jimoh, has called for the inclusion of private universities in the intervention schemes of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund ).
In an interview with LEADERSHIP in Ilorin,, Jimoh said the inclusion of private universities in TETFund schemes would bail them out of the financial constraints confronting them.
He said the inclusion of private universities as beneficiaries of TETFund projects “is a way of promoting universal education as the public universities cannot accommodate all varsity admission seekers.”
He said though TETFund intervention in the private universities might not be at par with what obtains in their public counterparts, accommodating them as beneficiaries would create a sense of belonging.
He said, “This is more of a policy issue. When you look at education, we are talking of universal access to education, either private or public university. It is Nigerians that are in these universities, and in order to create access to universal education and because public universities won’t be able to deliver universal education, the government had to open up the establishment of private universities.”
Jimoh added that the government can give a fraction of what goes to public institutions to the private ones, stressing that, “there is nothing stopping the government from doing a review of its policy to allow, even if not at par, certain developmental interventions should go to private universities.
“If you are giving public institutions, like a N100 million, maybe you give a N20 million project intervention to private universities. It might not be at par, but something needs to be done,” he said.
“The number of private institutions surpasses even the number of public institutions. So, definitely, I’m sure the government is thinking on what to do and the pressure groups are also talking to the government on this.
“I also think vice chancellors of private universities are discussing this. I’m sure it has reached an appreciable level and I want to believe that something will be done in no distant time about that”, he said.
