The University of Calabar says it has developed a 25-year plan to strengthen its workforce and curriculum.

Florence Obi, vice-chancellor of the institution, disclosed this on Tuesday in Calabar during an interaction with the media.

The media interaction is part of activities lined up for the 50th anniversary of the institution and the 37th convocation ceremony.

Ms Obi noted that paucity of funds was a major challenge for any public university, adding that it was the reason for the increase in money paid by students.

She explained that this would enable management to meet the increasing cost of running the institution.

“The federal government pays our personnel costs. They don’t give us money to run the university. In fact, UniCal receives N13 million monthly as subvention which does not cover our electricity bill before solar was introduced.

The vice-chancellor noted that they could not continue running the institution as an on-campus programme alone and said with 50,000 Open and Distant Learning Programme students, the university would have enough money to maintain facilities.

She appealed to the media to help the institution sell its Open and Distant Learning Programme, noting that the graduates also enjoy the benefit of the on-campus students, such as the one-year National Youth Service Corps.

Ms Obi, the 11th VC of UniCal and the first female to hold the position, was appointed on September 10, 2020, and her tenure will expire in September 2025. 

(NAN)