http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110518259737


Owners of private Universities in Nigeria are set to approach the National Assembly to amend the Education Trust Fund Act to enable them access ETF funds.


This was part of issues deliberated upon at a meeting of all vice-chancellors and registrars of private universities in Nigeria at the auditorium of the National Universities Commission in Abuja, on Tuesday.


Our correspondent gathered that the promoters of these universities were considering the option of engaging the services of a consultant to work out modalities on how best to achieve this objective.


According to a document titled ‘Private Universities and the Education Trust Fund formula: How far?’ promoters of private universities noted that “as at March 08, 2011, there were 45 private universities in the country, and there is evidence that the percentage of students that gain admission into tertiary institutions has increased significantly as a result of increase in the number of private universities.”


The document added, “The need to extend the operations of ETF to private universities therefore, has become more conspicuous and should not be ignored more so when there is no categorisation on the distribution of the fund at Federal, State and Local Government levels as it relates to public and private operators.”


The document observed that the money accruable to the ETF was growing at a rate of almost six per cent annually while the private universities were left out of the sharing.


The body said, “If the argument of raising the standard of education in the country is sustained in favour of the establishment of private universities, then it can easily be seen that private varsities not benefiting from ETF is misnomer.


“Any private university that has less than 4,000 students in Nigeria today must be battling hard to pay salaries from meager income from school fees and the proprietors.


“As an Interventionist Agency, ETF is supposed to rescue the entire education sector in the country from collapse.


“It is therefore wrong to assume that private universities do not deserve any rescue from imminent collapse.”


Earlier Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission Prof. Julius Okojie, said funding remained a major challenge for the education sector, private universities inclusive.


He noted that most universities today were grappling with the problems of standards and urged all universities, irrespective of their ownership, status to improve.


Okojie urged private universities to adhere strictly to best practices especially in the areas of admission and grading students.


The Chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Private Universities, Prof. Timothy Olagbemiro, said the stakeholders forum was the first of its kind since private universities were established in 1999.


He appealed to participants to use the platform to advance the course of the education secto

ETF=money to pay salaries?

Or student loans?

If the former, then they should be rejected.

Private universities should sink or swim on their own merit. No need for 'em to suck at the teat of the Nigerian public.

^^^

I agree.

wv all d money they r collecting, y do dey need public funds when dey r private, *smh*

If they want ETF money, will they charge the same fee with Government Universities or do they think Nigerian government is father xmas as usual

The parents of the students in private schools ALSO PAY THE TAX USED TO FUND THE ETF. In fact since they earn more, they probably pay the bulk of it.

should they be funding OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN without benefiting?


Always consider all angles before making comments.

kodewrita:

The parents of the students in private schools ALSO PAY THE TAX USED TO FUND THE ETF. In fact since they earn more, they probably pay the bulk of it.

should they be funding OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN without benefiting?


Always consider all angles before making comments.

This is a corporate tax, not an income tax. I[b]ndividuals don't pay into the fund[/b]!

The Education Tax Fund (ETF) was established as an intervention agency under the Education Tax Act No. 7 of 1993 and amended by Education Tax (Amendment) Act No. 40 0f 1998; with project management to improve the quality of Education in Nigeria. To enable the ETF achieve the above objectives, Act No. 7 of 1993 as amended i[size=15pt]mposes a 2 percent (2%) Education Tax on the assessable profit of all registered companies in Nigeria[/size]. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is empowered by the Act to assess and collect Education Tax. The Fund administers the tax imposed by the Act, and disburses the amounts to educational institutions at Federal, State and Local Government levels. It also monitors the projects executed with the funds allocated to the beneficiaries

http://www.etf.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37&Itemid=183

zstranger:

This is a corporate tax, not an income tax. I[b]ndividuals don't pay into the fund[/b]!

I see, So if my dad owns a company and it pays ETF tax, its not coming out of his pocket. , Okay, let me get my head around that.

Private universities should go and meet IMF for a bailout; ETF is for public universities.

@otokx unfortunately the letter of the law does not discriminate between private and public education. it has only been applied as such because of prejudice already on ground.

besides there are way more private primary schools in some places than public ones and it would reach more people that way if it was spread evenly.

totally agree but i believe conditions should be met they i.e staff retraining amongst the private and government owned universities,the tution will be reviewed and realistic targets will be set for them hopefully this will serve to kickstart the educational revolution of the government owned universities towards the standards they were in the 1960s and 1970s

Private universities should not have recourse to public funding, public schools need the money, they ( private universities) should approach their rich patron for sponsorship, if ur papa is contributing to ETF, then attend public school shikena.

there are some private universities who obviously will not recourse to public funds but for the ones that are not financially autonomous enough to stand on their own by the government helping them out it will not only strenghten more universities and bring them up to scratch,parents will have more options cheaper as well than the really expensive ones and by making this a sucess it might be the kick on the butt government need to start on the govt owned universities this is what obttains in the united kingdom and it is working fine for them so why not nigeria

I agree only with certain conditions perhaps

-get into the top 100 in africa

-admit more disabled student from poorer background

-slash fees by 30% and abolish spiritual levies

- 30% of lecturers must have at least 10years industrial/real business world experience

kodewrita:

I see, So if my dad owns a company and it pays ETF tax, its not coming out of his pocket. , Okay, let me get my head around that.

Please do!

The new ETF act that was passed yesterday ensures that public schools are the sole recipients.

cc

l

Musiwa,:

private universities must have funding from the government because they pay taxes. and they are performing community service which the government can not handle.  look the parent of this children are paying taxes like the same as parent of those who are not.

Over here they do fund them , include  help the parent and tax saving and others.

they must get part of the ETF. but on monthly allocation that is where they cant be funded. but government shall introduce loan to help private universities build facilities and pay back.  since they cant get monthly allocation.  with less than banking rate.  2 or 3% not more than 3%

t[b]he requirement is that the private universities must be running for at least 3 years before they can get funding , this way, people dont collect money and run away.[/b]

this is why i say, i want to be president. because nearly 2 decade experience cant be put on the internet.

that's a very good good idea

some new private uni. but some of them just offer less than 5 courses

some new private uni. but some of them just offer less than 5 courses

its actually good for a uni to offer less than 5 courses. then you can focus on making those 5 faculties grand. you dont wanna have your hand in too many pies. you spread yourself too thin doing that

some new private uni. but some of them just offer less than 5 courses

Don't think they should benefit unless they are willing to lower school fees.

u

they own this.

th

You can say they dont have five faculties but 5 courses only?!!!! thats pushing it too far.


How much does it take to recruit lecturers for humanities courses which require no real infrastructure. Does Accounting, Economics, Sociology require huge infrastructure based on current levels in nigeria? nope. not at our current level.

add Computer science and the pure sciences: PHY, BIOCHEM, CHEM, AGRIC (with all the specialisations), MAths, Stats


Come on, stop exaggerating things you really know nothing about.

It is simple
If they want to get money from the national purse, they should be willing to enrol children from poorer backgrounds the way it is now in the UK
If not,make these secondary schools go look for money now abi na by force to open universities?
Considering the fact that many of them are owned by politicians and religious bodies, allowing them access to govt money will only worsen our already divided polity.

ss

m

Not good enough. I don't think government would accept.