Prof. Yohanna Izam, the Vice Chancellor of Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos, says the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has approved N500 million as an intervention fund for the institution.
Izam disclosed this on Friday when the Plateau State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts and Petition led by its Chairman, Hon. Peter Gyendeng, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
“Already modalities for accessing the fund are being vigorously pursued in view of felt needs of the university for urgent infrastructural expansion to improve its carrying capacity.
“This is an impressive development for us in PLASU considering the fact that our monthly allocations from both the state and local governments are inadequate in meeting the needs of the university, ’’ he said.
He appealed to the lawmakers and the state government to increase the university’s allocations to enable it cope with its increasing demands, particularly in the payment of staff salaries.
Izam said that the funds provided by Federal Ministry of Education and the state government tremendously assisted the university in running 17 accredited programmes.
According to him, another 15 courses would be re-visited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in May for full accreditation.
The vice chancellor commended the state government, TETFund and the NEEDS Assessment funded by the Federal Ministry of Education for their interventions, attributing the growth of the university to their assistance.
On admission and employment, Izam said the management of the university was mindful of its status as a state-owned institution.
He said “efforts must be made to strike a balance in subsequent employment and admissions so that all the 17 local governments in the state have fair representation.’’
The vice chancellor appealed to the lawmakers to mobilise their constituents through awareness visits to take advantage of the university education the institution is providing to ensure that each local government area fills its quota.
Gyendeng, on his part, commended the management of the university for being up to date in auditing the university’s account.
He said the committee members were on a fact finding mission to all the state-owned tertiary institutions to ascertain whether their accounts had been audited. (NAN)
