The federal government has revealed “shocking data” to back the ban placed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the creation of new universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, announced that the FEC approved a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal tertiary institutions on Wednesday.
Speaking after a meeting of the FEC, presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Dr Alausa explained that the ban is aimed at improving the quality of tertiary institutions in the country.
“The shocking data we are seeing; today, we have 199 universities, where less than 99 candidates applied to seek to go to those universities. In fact, zero candidates applied through JAMB to go to 34 universities.
“For polytechnics, we had 295 polytechnics; federal, State and private that had less than 99 people choosing them as a choice for candidates to go there.
“For colleges of education, we had 219 colleges of education; federal, State and private that had less than 99 candidates choosing them through the JAMB portal. In fact, 64 colleges of education had zero candidates choosing them,” Alausa said.
He added: “So, if we want to improve the quality of our tertiary institutions, and not be a laughing stock across the world, the FEC decision today is most pragmatic and the best for our tertiary education system so that we can sustain the respect that the world has for us”.
