Beneficiary institutions in Nigerian higher education are to benefit from the 2023 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention of N198 billion.
The amount represents 62 per cent of the approved N320 billion by the government.
TETFund’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulmumin Oniyangi, stated this in a document sent to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The document, which is also available on the fund’s website, highlighted the breakdown of the allocation to beneficiary universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Oniyangi, who said the interventions were for public tertiary institutions, added that the Act establishing the fund does not include private institutions in its intervention lines.
He said: “Research is part of our intervention lines. We do content as well, and not just infrastructure.
“Sending lecturers to do MSc, PhD and all that is in research… In the research itself, there is what we call the Institution-Based Research (IBS) and this is also available not to talk of the National Research Fund (NRF).
“So, our intervention is not skewed against anything. In any case, research cannot be undertaken if there are no equipment. So, everything is working together,” he said.
Also, TETFund’s Executive Secretary Sonny Echono had presented letters of allocation to heads of the beneficiary institutions at the 2023 TETFund Strategic Planning Workshop in Abuja.
Echono had told them that the allocations were for projects categorised under a segment of the fund’s intervention called: Annual Direct Disbursement (ADD).
Highlighting the breakdown, the TETFund boss said under the ADD, funds were shared in line with the stipulated ratio in the establishment Act equally to each tier of tertiary institutions, regardless of size or needs.
On other projects to be carried out in 2023 outside the ADD, he said the fund had provided a budget of N30 billion for High Impact Projects in selected institutions across its three tiers of beneficiaries in the six geo-political zones across the country.
The fund, which is allocated under TETFund’s Special High Impact Intervention, indicates that six universities would get N3 billion each, while N1 billion each would be given to six polytechnics and six colleges of education spread across the geo-political zones.
“For this year, the Special High Impact will be given to six universities, and the six universities are: IBB University, Lapai, Niger State (Northcentral), Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State (Northeast), Federal University, Birnin-Kebbi (Northwest),
“Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (Southeast), Edo State University (Southsouth), and Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State (Southwest).
“The beneficiary Polytechnics are: Federal Polytechnics, Offa, Kwara State; Federal Polytechnic, Gombe; Federal Polytechnic, Kabo, Kano; Anambra State Polytechnic, Mgbakwu; Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny; and Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology; Igbo-Ora.
“Also, Plateau State College of Education, Gindiri; Federal College of Education, Yola; Federal College of Education, Zaria; Enugu State College of Education, Enugu; Delta State College of Education, Mosogar; and Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu-Ijebu,” he said.
Echono also explained that 20 per cent of disbursements amounting to N64.2 billion would be utilised for special disbursement.
The TETFund boss said a special intervention is at the discretion of the Board of Trustees (BOTs) of TETFund for which allocations are zonal-based in line with the mandate of the agency.
He also said other intervention activities had been earmarked for the year, like the establishment of micro-teaching laboratories in some selected colleges of education from the six geo-political zones in the country.
Echono listed the colleges as: the Federal College of Education, Otukpo, Benue State; Federal College of Education, Jama’are, Bauchi State; Federal College of Education, Sokoto State; and Federal College of Education, Isu, Ebonyi State.
Others are: Federal College of Education, Ekiadolor, Edo State; and Federal College of Education, Iwo, Osun State.
According to him, N500 million is allocated to each of the colleges.
-Thenation
