TETFund boss frowns at proliferation of varsities by state governors

Tribune Online
TETFund boss frowns at proliferation of varsities by state governors

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Professor Suleiman Bogoro has frowned at the attitude of some state governors who rushed to establish many universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for the purpose of benefiting from the agency’s intervention.

He disclosed that the Federal Government would soon take a position on that so as not to weaken the impact of the intervention of the Fund by enlisting so many institutions.

Bogoro said this while inaugurating a Technical Advisory Committee on Impact Assessment of TETFund in Abuja late Tuesday.

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He said the agency has undertaken to conduct a self-evaluation after 20 years of existence and that the committee would review the projects, interventions and expenditure in benefiting tertiary institutions across the country between 1999 and 2019.

He noted TETFund was a model and that up seven African countries have come to understudy the agency with the aim of establishing such an interventionist institution in their countries.

He commended the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), that was led to the ceremony by its President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, for innovation and futuristic thinking that led to the establishment of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and later changed to TETFund to limit the scope of its intervention to only public tertiary institutions, specifically, public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

He said: “There is one uncomfortable development that we have noticed in TETFund, which is the tendency of some tertiary institutions being established just to meet TETFund requirement for enlistment to benefit from the Fund.

“It is very disturbing and with further consultation, we are hoping some policies may emerge that will try to minimise emergence of institutions to increase the number of beneficiary institutions almost every month to the extent that the impact of the intervention that we are seeing now will be weakened,” he said.

He said the committee had two and half months to work, and would identify the weaknesses, strengths, progress and challenges of the interventions in universities so far as well as come up with recommendations.

The committee is expected to submit its report to TETFund by November 29, 2019.

The TETFund boss said, “We want the committee to identify those areas where we need improvements. We hope that your recommendations in the end will ensure that we increase in the ranking of Nigerian universities globally.

“The terms of reference of the committee are; to carry out the impact assessment of the Education Trust Fund interventions from 1999 to 2010 and of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund from 2010 to 2019.

“The committee is to collate and analyse; the strategic plan document, the annual interventions and the internal working budgets. They are to propose the future direction of the Fund within the statutory mandate as encapsulated in the TETFUND Establishment Act 2011.”

TETFund boss frowns at proliferation of varsities by state governors
Tribune Online