Exclude education colleges from IGR deduction --COEASU to FG

Workers under the umbrella of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union have urged the Federal Government to exclude Colleges of Education from its policy mandating tertiary institutions to remit 40 per cent of their Internally Generated Revenue to the federal treasury.

The union warned that parents will bear the consequences if the government goes ahead to implement the policy, which it described as another strike against teacher education.

COEASU claimed that those who conceived the policy deliberately wanted to sabotage the current government.

In a statement issued on Monday by its National President, Dr. Smart Olugbeko, COEASU stated that the government by its new demand will be giving the Provosts no other option but to increase fees payable by students to provide essential services.

According to the union, collections by the colleges are not IGR but charges meant to support specific services that were not being provided by the government.

COEASU, however, called on the FG to improve its funding of Colleges of Education, saying it is a constitutional obligation of social responsibility.

The union further lamented that the government was initiating a policy to turn Colleges of Education into revenue-generating centres at a time when the critical stakeholders in the education sector were clamouring for increased funding of teacher education, provision of scholarships and bursaries for education students.

COEASU said it expected the government to understand the implications of the inability of colleges to provide electricity, pipe-borne water, security, laboratory equipment and other relevant recurrent maintenance costs as they will lead to ineffective teaching and learning, and ultimately, student unrest.

The statement partly read, “Our union notes with enormous reservations the directive of the Federal Government that Federal Colleges of Education should remit 40% of their Internally Generated Revenues to the Federal Treasury.

“There is no basis to apply this directive to the Colleges of Education because revenues collected in the Colleges are meagre charges meant for the discharge of specific services. In other words, Federal Colleges of Education do not generate IGR. What they charge are service charges for student identity cards, health clinic services, hostel maintenance, laboratory equipment, teaching practice, consumables, etc.

“This decision represents another strike against teacher education. At a time when the critical stakeholders in the education sector are clamouring for increased funding of teacher education and provision of scholarships and bursaries for education students, the government is initiating a policy to turn Colleges of Education into revenue-generating centres.”

In addition, the statement read, “Government only gives the Federal Colleges between an average of N8 million monthly to run the Colleges and this fund is not always made available as and when due, creating serious challenges in running the institutions.

“If the government goes ahead to implement this policy, parents will bear the consequences and many parents will withdraw their children from schools.

“We urge the Federal Government to exclude Colleges of Education from remitting 40% of their IGR to the federal treasury as collections made by the Colleges are not IGR per se, but charges meant to support specific services that are not being provided by the government. We also call on the Federal Government to improve its funding of Colleges of Education as this is a constitutional obligation of social responsibility.