The Vice-Chancellor of Muhammad Kamaldeen University in Ilorin, Kwara State North Central Nigeria, Professor Rasheed Jimoh, has sought a policy review for the inclusion of private universities on the list of the beneficiaries of intervention of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
He said this in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State, in an interview with reporters on the financial constraints of private universities in the country and the need for government intervention.
Jimoh said the inclusion of private universities as beneficiaries of TETFUND is a way of promoting universal education as the public universities cannot accommodate all varsity admission seekers.
He explained that though TETFUND intervention in private universities may not be at par with what is obtainable in public-owned universities, accommodating them as beneficiaries would create a sense of belonging.
“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”, he said.
The Vice-Chancellor added that the government can give a fraction of what is going to public institutions to private institutions, saying that, “There is nothing stopping the government from doing a review of their policy to allow, even if not at the par, certain developmental interventions should also 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 because of Nigerians are the ones, these universities are also grooming in terms of education.
“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.
Commenting on the recent policy on age limit for admissions by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Jimoh said the country has a perennial culture of implementation problems in its policies.
“I see an implementation problem. The implementation problem is that you did not stop the student from enrolling in the primary school before 6 years nor stop them from enrolling for secondary school before 12 years.
“So, you want to create a gap. Have we created a college of a year or two years where they can attend before going to the University or do you want this set of students to be roaming on the street for one year or two years?
“For those that finish secondary school, where do you want to keep them? Has the government provided a vocational centre for them to be before they enrol into the university? Of course, we have seen a lot in terms of underage, what do you call it, disadvantages of underage in the university.
“But that is not enough to say that you want to create a vacuum or you want to create a lacuna in terms of the lifetime of Nigerians that finish at 15 years, six months, and you want that person to stay until like 17 or 16, what is he going to do, and have we created a meaningful engagement for them?
“Before you make a certain policy, you must definitely look at certain issues. I can see a clear implementation problem. So, now, if we want to start with that one, we should start at the primary school. We must ensure that no pupil enters the primary one except you are six years old.
“We should start now from the grassroots, from the primary and probably we should allow this generation to pass and you know, it will be difficult for those people coming to even cross to the university, except you are 18, and I think that will be more seamless than just starting in the middle of it”.
Speaking about Muhammed Kamal-deen University, the Vice Chancellor, said the Institution admitted 147 students at their take off in their first academic session which commenced in December, 2023 into their 15 programmes across two faculties,.
“We have gotten the approval from the National Universities Commission NUC to commence all our 15 programmes across two faculties, that is the Faculty of Humanity, Management and Social Sciences as well as the Faculty of Computing, Science and Information Technology.
“Faculty of Humanity, Management and Social Sciences have 7 programmes which are Bsc Accounting,Bsc Economics, Bsc Business Administration, Bsc History & International relations, BA English ,BA Arabic and BA Islamic studies.
“The other one is Faculty of Computing, Science and Information Technology with courses such as Bsc Computer science,Bsc Cyber Security, Bsc Software Engineering,Bsc Plant Science & Biotechnology, Bsc Statistics with Data Science, Bsc Chemistry, Bsc Mathematics and Bsc Physics with Electronics”.
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