From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
President Muhammad Buhari said on Saturday that a highly sustainable model of tertiary education financing needs to be introduced to reduce the burden on government.
He argued that the government alone cannot provide the resources necessary to finance the system to provide quality education, particularly in higher institutions.
He said this at the 46th convocation ceremony of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State.
Represented by the Director of Academic Planning of the National University Commission (NUC), Dr. Abiodun Saliu, Buhari pointed out that the cost of education is jointly shared by the government and the people in some countries, saying that Nigeria should think beyond to put the burden on the government. .
He said: “I want us all to know and keep in mind that government alone cannot provide the necessary resources to finance tertiary education.
“In fact, in most countries, the cost of education is shared jointly between the government and the people, especially at the tertiary level. It is therefore imperative that we introduce a highly sustainable model of financing tertiary education.
“This government remains committed to implementing the agreement reached with the staff unions within available resources, and we are determined not to sign any agreement that we cannot truthfully implement. The government is equally committed to improving the quality of education at other levels,” added the president.
The Rector of the University, His Royal Highness, Yahaya Abubakar, Etsu Nupe, maintained that education remains the best gift for children to become someone in life.
“There is no better investment than giving our children the knowledge, skills and confidence to know that they are equipped to achieve anything in life,” he added.
The OUA Vice Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Bamire, pointed out that the school’s 46th convocation is graduating a total of 6,542 graduates who are distributed in the two schools, 13 faculties and various institutes of the institution.
The graduates, he said, include 130 first-class, 1,381 second-class (upper division), 2,122 second-class (lower division), 681 third-class and 34 passes not including unranked titles.