VC Urges Inclusion Of Private Varsities In TETFund Support

VC Urges Inclusion Of Private Varsities In TETFund Support

Prof. Idika Kalu, the Vice-Chancellor of Evangel University, Okpoto in Ebonyi has appealed to the Federal Government to include private universities in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) support.

Kalu made the appeal during a media interaction in his office on Wednesday, saying that it was regrettable that private universities were excluded from the fund.

He said that denying private universities TETFund support to finance their academic programmes, including research and infrastructure development, amounted to great injustice.

He said that the main aim of every academic institution was to contribute to nation building through impartation of knowledge and character moulding rather than profit making.

Kalu said that the university, which is owned by the Assemblies of God Church, Nigeria, was built to provide quality education in line with international standard.

He said that private universities offered the same academic services like their government-owned counterparts, hence should enjoy similar financial assistance from the federal government.

Kalu hinged the high fees charged by private universities on the enormous financial burden they bear in the attempt to maintain the best minimum standard required by the regulatory agencies.