THE Federal Government has lamented that poor management of funds allocated to the tertiary institutions, especially polytechnics and colleges of education, has been the major challenge of the sub-sector.
Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who said this while inaugurating the governing councils of new eight federal polytechnics and six federal colleges of education, also warned the council members against corruption and interference in the day-to-day operations of the institutions.
He said: “Poor management of funds remains a major operational constraint in the sector. It is expected that the limited funds allocated by the government should be judiciously utilised.
“Also, it is evident that the government alone cannot provide all the funds required to run the federal polytechnics and colleges of education, therefore the councils should think out of the box and endeavour to generate more revenue outside of the government allocations.
“In this regard, the councils should enlist the support of philanthropic organisations, individuals and other sources of revenue through endowment for additional funding of their institutions,” he said.
The minister warned the council members that President Muhammadu Buhari would not hesitate to dissolve any council found to be corrupt and/or incompetent, noting however, that with the calibre of men and women being inaugurated, “I am hopeful that he would have no need to exercise his powers in this regard.”
