Educational Funding and its Implications on the Management of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria
Education is the major tool for national development; therefore, no nation could afford to underrate it. Thus, the interest and major goal of every great nation is to educate the citizens to acquire the necessary knowledge, values and skills that would enable them to contribute meaningfully towards national development.
THEN WHAT IS FUNDING?: Funding is the provision of financial resources for particular operations or activities with the aim of achieving quality higher education. Some sources of funding are:
Tuition : Tertiary institutions receive a reasonable proportion of their revenue through students' fees
Undertake Researches: Through contracts and Consultancy Services, tertiary institutions undertake researches for large organizations like the oil firms and other multi-national organization.
Education Tax: The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is one of the medium through which private sectors contribute towards the management of both the federal and state tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Others are External Support, Internal Generated Revenue, Government Subvention, Endowment Funds E.t.c.
MANAGEMENT OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA
According to Jaja, (2013) described management of tertiary institutions as a coordination of human and non-human resources towards the attainment of the set academic goals .
BENEFITS OF FUNDING AND MANAGEMENT OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA
Adequate funding and management of tertiary institutions could facilitate the provision of physical infrastructures in the school system. A prerequisite for staff development, it would also assist in regular and prompt payment staff salaries.
IMPLICATIONS OF INADEQUATE FUNDING OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA
Generally, educational sector in Nigeria is grossly underfunded. The underfunding of the educational industry by Nigeria as a nation has limited the effective management of tertiary institutions. The inability of Nigeria to meet the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2011) recommendation of the yearly 26% of the total budget allocation to education sector by all countries therefore means that the government cannot meet the conditions for adequate funding of educational sector. Consequently, if Nigerian government is not meeting up with the 26% recommendation for annual funding of education, it invariably means that tertiary institutions in the state may be underfunded.
The evidence of underfunding of tertiary institutions in Nigeria is seen in the area of inadequate staff development, lack of adequate infrastructure, unending strike actions by teaching and non teaching staff, little or no interest in funding research.
In conclusion, both the state and federal governments in Nigeria need to consider funding of tertiary education as a priority project if the future of Nigeria must be sustained. Government must, of necessity, adopt the 26% budgetary expenditures by UNESCO on education .The federal government policy of free tuition fees in federal institutions needs to be reviewed. As good as this policy is intended, it eliminates the financial drive nature of higher institutions. Also, managers of higher institutions should be prudent with the meager contributions from the government (Subvention), students (Tuition), and internally generated revenue.
Higher institutions in Nigeria should as a matter of importance come up with ideas that would assist in giving a boost to internally generated revenues (IGR) other to achieve qualitative education and to make Nigeria a hub for educational tourism from other African countries. Nigeria as a nation requires adequate human and material resources to improve her social organization; preserves her cultures, enhance economic development and reform the political structure, but the human resources needed for enhancing national development could be produced and refined in tertiary institutions.
KRYSTAL IBHADE TAMUNOSIKI
Krystal.taminosiki@gmail
