The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) said the upward revision of the education tax from 2.5 to 3 percent has yielded impressive results in financing projects for its beneficiary institutions.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Sonny Echono, stated this on Monday in Abuja during a one-day interactive strategic engagement with heads of beneficiary institutions.

He said this is expected to significantly improve infrastructure, strengthen research capabilities and support the development of faculty at higher education institutions.

Echono said the education tax increase will be instrumental in achieving its mandate of providing additional support to public higher education institutions, focusing on rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of public higher education in Nigeria. This, he noted, will ultimately improve the quality of education in these institutions.

According to him, the agency evolved to improve the quality of public higher education institutions through contributions to the education tax.

His words: “Last year’s increase in school tax from 2.5% to 3% – authorized by the Commander-in-Chief, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represents a significant step for TETFund. This change strengthens the government’s resolve to strengthen Nigeria’s educational framework. .

“We now enter the 2025 budget cycle with a stronger foundation, which allows us to improve our impact in the country’s higher education institutions.

“At this juncture, the Fund wishes to express our gratitude to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which has been our competent and reliable partner from its inception to date, for its determination and diligence in ensuring timely and transparent collection accumulated funds. of education tax in our beloved nation, to propel our tertiary institutions towards global recognition and excellence.

“Revenues generated by the school tax play an important role in maintaining and improving the infrastructure of our institutions, improving academic programs and promoting accessibility for students from diverse backgrounds.

The Guardian reports that there are more than 260 beneficiary institutions, ranging from public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the TETFund, Aminu Bello Masari, called for the withdrawal of politics from the education sector if we are to see real development.

He charged higher education institutions to start finding ways to create their own funds rather than relying solely on the government.

He said: “Let me start by commending ASUU for establishing this response agency 21 years ago. And the Fund maintained confidence in the low implementation rate of our higher institutions. That’s why we have some of the best institutions in the country. After 21 years, some institutions, without apology, and some outsiders, see that the Fund is not just an intervention agency, but an agency that must protect its own responsibilities in education, which I believe , is right.

“I think it’s high time that we start thinking, especially you, about how to finance education in a sustainable way. We see an intervention. Believe me, after 2 or 3 months, as president, I receive requests from institutions, especially those who know me or know someone who knows me.