‘Include Colleges Of Health Tech In Tetfund Intervention’

The Federal Government
has been urged to include Colleges of Health Technology among beneficiaries of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) financing.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tertiary Education in Kwara, Alhaji Jubril Haruna, made the call during interview with journalists  in Ilorin, Sunday.
He, therefore, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the National Assembly to amend the law establishing TETFUND to accommodate more state owned higher institutions.
In the alternative, Haruna advised federal government to establish a separate trust fund that would take care of states’ tertiary institutions not enjoying TETFUND intervention.
The permanent secretary listed such institutions not covered by TETFUND as state owned School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Aviation, Ilorin, and Colleges of Arabic, Islamic and Legal Studies.
Haruna pointed out that limiting TETFUND intervention to government owned universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, was not in the best interest of development of tertiary education in the country.
He was of the view that these categories of institutions covered by TETFUND can only accommodate negligible percentage of Nigerian youths yearning for higher education.
He added that colleges of Arabic and Islamic Studies were established by Kwara State Government to provide advanced studies for products of almajiri schools.
Haruna held that Schools of Nursing and Midwifery were also important tertiary institutions providing the needed manpower to the health sector; hence they should enjoy TETFUND intervention.
According to him, these tertiary health institutions train nurses, midwives and immunization officers/personnel needed in the health sector.
He said that like many states in the federation, Kwara has nine tertiary institutions out of which five were captured by TETFUND.