The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, says the education tax collected in 2023 was the highest in a single year since its inception.
The Executive Secretary of the TETFund, Arc Sunny Echono, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interactive session with heads of beneficiary institutions on the disbursement guidelines for 2024 intervention cycle, in Abuja.
The TETFund boss also attributed the high revenue to increases approved by the former and present administrations to 3 per cent of accessible profit and other factors implemented by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, in collaboration with the agency.
He said TETFund has budgeted a significant increase in annual direct disbursements in response to improvement in tax collections under the 2024 intervention programme.
According to him, 90.54 per cent of taxes generated was budgeted for direct disbursement, while 6.5 per cent was designated for some projects and 2.94 for stabilisation.
“For the Special Direct Disbursement, we have increased the allocation and number of beneficiary institutions for the Special High Impact Programme (SHIP).
“There will be upgrade of Laboratories, Workshops and Equipment to Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (Technical) for the 2024 Intervention Year. There will also be the Early grade resource centers phase II to Colleges of Education (NCCE),” he said.
He further appealed to external stakeholders, including the National Assembly, to minimize distractions as TETFund mobilizes, harnesses and efficiently deploys all hands to the plough in restoring the tertiary institutions to the enviable heights envisioned by President Bola Tinubu.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE, Prof Paulinus Okwelle, commended the Fund for its activities in colleges of education across the country.
