Training minister urges AGF to decentralise Unity Faculties’ {financial} approvals, proposes quarterly funding
The Minister of Training, Dr Tunji Alausa, has referred to as for pressing {financial} reforms to assist Nigeria’s 110 Unity Faculties, urging the Workplace of the Accountant Basic of the Federation (OAGF) to decentralise {financial} approvals and introduce quarterly releases to make sure uninterrupted studying actions.
Alausa made the request in Abuja on Wednesday throughout an official go to by the Accountant Basic of the Federation, Mr Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, the place key bottlenecks affecting training funding had been mentioned.
The Minister highlighted the {financial} pressures dealing with Unity Faculties as a consequence of delays in overhead and college feeding allocations. He disclosed that the final overhead launch to the ministry was in March, whereas the final faculty feeding funds was acquired in April, forcing some Unity Faculties to function below extreme {financial} stress and unable to satisfy primary obligations.
“We’re going by a tough patch. Principals are below stress from contractors who’re blackmailing them over unpaid contracts.
“The truth is, I needed to delay faculty resumption in some Unity Faculties as a consequence of fears of inadequate meals provide,” Alausa stated.
Proposal for decentralised approvals
The minister proposed a decentralised {financial} system to allow faster and extra environment friendly funds for faculties.
He beneficial that {financial} transactions under N500 million be accepted on the ministry stage, whereas these below N100 million be processed by the companies.
“What I’d counsel, since you’re having to take care of a giant nation like ours, 220 million folks… reasonably than all funds, even as little as 1 million coming to you, I feel you need to look again and see which one you possibly can domicile on the ministry and the companies stage,” Alausa stated.
He additionally referred to as for quarterly releases to offer Unity Faculties with predictable {financial} assets and assist them plan effectively.
The Accountant Basic of the Federation, Mr Shamsudeen Ogunjimi, acknowledged the funding challenges raised and pledged to prioritise {financial} releases to the Ministry of Training, particularly for Unity Faculties.
He agreed with the proposal for termly disbursements and requested the Director of Finance and Accounts (DFA) within the ministry to make a proper submission.
“We are going to prioritise the releases of overhead to the ministry and ensure that, even when others usually are not getting it as a consequence of funding constraints, the Ministry of Training will get theirs on time,” he acknowledged.
Backside-up coverage below evaluate
Ogunjimi admitted that the continuing bottom-up money administration coverage, though designed to fast-track the implementation of accepted budgets, has led to operational difficulties because of the nation’s present fiscal scenario.
“The fund shouldn’t be our drawback. Had it been that we didn’t have the fiscal challenges that we’re having, it might have been a greater coverage for us. However due to the deficits that we’re having, it makes the coverage very tough,” he stated.
To deal with this, he disclosed {that a} high-level committee arrange by the Minister of Finance is already reviewing the coverage with a brand new, harmonised model anticipated quickly.
The AGF additional revealed that the OAGF is overwhelmed by the amount of budget-related documentation being uploaded by varied MDAs below the centralised approval system. This, he famous, is contributing to bureaucratic delays.
“Our capability has been overstretched as a result of all companies are required to add all their paperwork. So, we regularly must go and broaden and dig for this.
“Whereas, such as you additionally stated, most of those contracts which are of much less worth could be dealt with on the MDA stage in order that we don’t must populate these paperwork on our system,” he stated
What you need to know
Unity Faculties, often known as Federal Authorities Faculties, are secondary faculties established and funded by the federal authorities to advertise nationwide unity by bringing collectively college students from various ethnic, non secular, and regional backgrounds.
Whereas tuition is formally free, mother and father are sometimes required to cowl different bills comparable to boarding, uniforms, and extracurricular actions. These prices are considerably decrease in comparison with most non-public faculties, making Unity Faculties comparatively inexpensive whereas nonetheless offering high quality training.
There are over 100 of those faculties throughout the nation, and the Federal Authorities funds them to make sure standardised studying circumstances.
