Funding of educational institution is a collective responsibility — Ibadan Poly rector

The rector of The Polytechnic Ibadan (TPI), Professor Kazeem Adekunle Adebiyi has identified adequate funding and its proper management as the bedrock of a viable educational system.

He also said that the funding of the educational institution must not be left in the hands of the government alone, saying that it is a collective responsibility.

Professor Adebiyi spoke at the 46th Bursar’s Association of Polytechnic and Colleges of Technology (BURSCON) 2022, hosted by The Polytechnic Ibadan and held at the CIBN Hall of the institution last Tuesday.

He noted that in this period of scarce resources, it became appropriate that bursars should come together to see how best they can assist their various institutions on how to fulfill their financial obligations.

“The coming together of bursars who are the chief finance officers of their institutions at such a time as this cannot be overemphasised. It is appropriate that they come to share experiences and ideas on how to improve the IGR of their various institutions,” he said.

He appreciated the association for choosing The Polytechnic Ibadan as the venue of its 46th quarterly meeting, held for three days and its efforts at providing support to bursars to be at their best in their various institutions.

In his remarks, the financial secretary of BURSCON, Mr Kassim Yusha’u Shika, who represented the national president of BURSCON, Dr Salisu I. Ladan said that the quest for more revenue in tertiary institutions or otherwise is a problem that cannot be resolved soon.

He, however, noted that through the financial perspectives of bursars there are strategies that could be employed to overcome or reduce financial burdens on institutions to the barest minimum.

Speaking on the purpose of the 46th quarterly meeting he said it was meant to create an avenue for the financial controllers of tertiary institution in the polytechnic-sector to come together to review their internal operations to see how best they can improve in terms of reducing their cost of operation and improving the internally generated revenue towards the achievement of the main mandate of research, teaching and innovation.

Earlier in his speech, the chairman, governing council, TPI, Professor Adekunle Akinyemi, observed that “the challenges facing institutions of tertiary education are by no means few,” hence, the ingenuity of the management must come to bear in administering the available meagre funds to meet the institutional needs.

“All avenues must be explored to ensure the appropriate disbursement of funds towards the realisation of institutional goals and objectives,” he said.