The topic, “Creating New Funding Sources towards the Survival of Tertiary Institutions” was hotly debated at the Fourth Lecture Series of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) Alumni Association last Wednesday with some of the speakers and discussants calling for a cost to be placed on education to ensure quality.
The lecture, held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), had Prof Adele Jinadu and Mr Samuel Olatunji as lead speakers; while Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), Mr Olawumi Gasper; and Mr Samuel Ayininuola were the discussants.
On his part, Prof Jinadu argued that as a social obligation the government should continue to be major funder of education. He called for increased funding that takes into cognizance the effects of inflation, and urged the government to block loopholes in public service that allowed public officers live big.
“The federal and state governments must continue to provide funding for education. We must not leave it to market forces alone. Though funding has improved over the years, it remains a problem in state institutions. But there is a problem because the funding does not adjust for inflation.
“There must be provision to bridge the social class gap. It is difficult to accept there are no funds when there are so many leakages and political officers enjoy perks,” he said.
However, Olatunji differed in his view, arguing that the time was right to put a price on education. He said with a huge population of youths, the demand for education in Nigeria is high resulting in pressure on facilities, as revenue to government continues to decrease.
He faulted the current trend where primary and secondary education have become more expensive than tertiary education – with some private schools charging as high as N5 million per session compared to N50,000 charged by some federal universities. He gave an example of how the British government re-adjusted fees from 3,000 to 9,000 pounds under Cameron to reflect reality and recommended the introduction of student loans like is done abroad.
“What should be done is to ensure we price education more reasonably. The rundown state of education will continue until we address this bizarre pricing of education.
“We need to price realistically otherwise the value of what we are getting will be degrees that are good for nothing,” he said.
Arguing along the same line, Ayininuola, Managing Director, Energy Bank, Ghana, said Ghanaian Varsities were replete with Nigerians who pay huge sums of money as fees compared to what obtains in Nigeria.
“Education is expensive. Users of education will have to pay more. For universities in Ghana, you have to pay in dollars. And everywhere is filled with Nigerians. The tertiary institutions here can benefit from that adjustment,” he said.
To raise funds outside government for tertiary education, Ayininuola suggested institutions get community involvement through a concept known as crowd funding.
“Tap into your community. You can’t use crowd funding for recurrent expenditure but for specific capital projects. Once people are convinced, they will give to support your projects,” he said.
He also counseled Nigerian tertiary institutions to block leakages of funds through corruption to be able to attract international grants like their Ghanaian counterparts.
Giving his suggestion, Gasper said funding outside government could come from institutions setting up small business hubs to support the creative ideas of their graduates.
“If you support young boys with bright ideas and get equity, they will generate money,” he said.
Gasper also underscored the importance of alumni/institution relationship.
Throwing more light on the relevance of alumni to funding, Olatunji said institutions that cultivate their alumni relationship reap bountiful investments.
“The alumni are your most important products. You need to love them; support and embrace them. Universities in the UK got 774 million pounds from alumni alone,” he said.
In his speech, President of the LASPOTECH Alumni Assocation, Mr Muyiwa Olugbile said the old students of the school were playing their role as development partners through the lecture series and hoped it would generate plausible solutions to the institution’s funding problems.
“It is my belief that this topic being treated today by prominent and erudite scholars shall in no small measure proffer acceptable solutions to the dwindling resources available to our institution in particular,” he said.
Chairman of the occasion, Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi, who also chairs the institution’s governing council, said he was pleased by the quality of deliberations and promised to implement some of the ideas.
“I am going away with two things: the need to eliminate leakages, and the need to establish a strong bond between the institution and its alumni. You are preaching to the converted. I believe in the alumni movement,” he said.
Former president of the association, Mr Rotimi Edu, urged Gbadamosi to work closely with the alumni.
