The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) says it has faced revenue shortage in its coffers this year.

TETFund Executive Secretary, Arch. Sonny Echono, made this known while receiving the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education and Services, led by its chairman, Hon Aminu Suleiman, in Abuja on Thursday.

According to Echono, the operations of the Fund and the state of finances, especially from 2017 to date, which is what the Fund used to operate this year, dropped to N189 billion.

“We witness a steady rise in collections under the education tax but unfortunately, last year, for 2021 there was a sharp drop and that left us in a very dare position.

“For example, as I said, from N154 billion in 2017, the tax collection rose steadily to N257 billion over the years.

“So by 2020, we’ve got N257 billion, but unfortunately, last year’s collection, which is what we use to operate this year, dropped sharply to N189 billion.

“So over N60 billion drop revenue or resources available to TETfund and the way we operate, 2021 collections are used for 2022 operations,” the TETfund boss said.

He, however, noted that given President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment on increased funding for education, and with the usual support of the National Assembly, the tax rate last year was increased from 2 to 2.5%.

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“But the target is that before the end of this administration, it will increase to three per cent, which is a commitment that the President has already given in writing the global community to the Global Partnership for Education,” Echono added.

Echono lauded the level of support and cooperation the Fund has enjoyed from the committee and the National Assembly while seeking its support in effecting the amendment of the Fund.

He said: “This is a major area that will be seeking the support of the National Assembly in terms of legislation.

“The other aspect is the fact that in contravention of this oversight, we also want to open our activities more to independent assessment and evaluation on our behalf.

“So we have designed a monitoring and evaluation that will be involving key stakeholders, like the National Assembly, even the staff unions in our tertiary institutions, to join us do independently look at some of the things that we’re doing.”

On his part, the Chairman of the House Committee, Hon. Suleiman, assured the Fund of its continued support and cooperation to ensure that the system continues to work stronger.

The Star