Tunde Adeleke, Osogbo
The Vice-Chancellor of Owolabi University, Osun State, Professor Samuel Adedokun, has called on the Federal Government to extend the benefits of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to private universities to expand access to higher education and research funding in Nigeria.
This is just as Adedokun announced the approval of fifteen academic programmes by the National University Commission (NUC) for the institution.
Speaking at a press conference held on Friday, he said private universities were contributing to the development of the country’s education sector and should not be excluded from government support, particularly in research grants and student loan facilities.
He argued that public universities lacked the capacity to accommodate all qualified candidates seeking admission, stressing that students who could not secure places in federal and state universities should also have access to financial assistance to pursue their education in private institutions.
He said, “If the government supports researchers in public institutions, what prevents it from supporting researchers in private institutions?
“Look at the reports on university rankings in Nigeria. Private universities are competing effectively with public universities. The records are available in the public domain.
“If private universities are competing favourably with public institutions, why can’t the Federal Government extend research grants to them? Doing so would improve the entire education system. That is my position. I am advocating that the government should consider extending NELFUND facilities to private institutions.”
He, however, stressed that the approved programmes were selected to provide students with opportunities in important professional, scientific, technological, business and social disciplines.
He noted that “The Faculty of Allied Health Sciences offers five programmes: Bachelor of Nursing Science (B.NSc.) – Nursing Science, Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT) – Physiotherapy, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Public Health, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Nutrition and Dietetics and Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (B.MLS.) – Medical Laboratory Science.
“Faculty of Management and Social Sciences
The Faculty of Management and Social Sciences offers four programmes: Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Accounting, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) — Business Administration, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Criminology and Security Studies, and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Economics.
“Faculty of Science and Computing
The Faculty of Science and Computing offers six programmes: Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Microbiology, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Cyber Security, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Computer Science, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Information Technology, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Software Engineering and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Science Laboratory Technology.”
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