From January 1 next year, members of staff of tertiary institutions seeking scholarships for foreign post-graduate programmes through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) will not be opportune to do so.
This is because TETfund’s Board of Trustees has suspended the foreign component of the scheme known as TSAS (TETfund Scholarship for Academic Staff).
TETFund’s Public Affairs Director Abdulmumin Oniyangi said in a statement that the decision was in response to the high cost of training in foreign institutions and the rate of abscondment by the beneficiaries.
Oniyangi, however, said those who have already enrolled in foreign institutions would continue to draw down on their scholarships till the end of their programmes.
TETFund, a Federal Government intervention scheme, was formed as a product of the Education Tax Act of 1993.
About 4,980 academics received N10.8 billion in scholarships for Masters, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes between June last year and July.
Twenty-four academics in 24 foreign universities got N340 million during the period.
Oniyanji, in the statement, said: “It is expected that the suspension will conserve and reduce the pressure on the foreign exchange rate, boost investment and local capacity in Nigerian tertiary educational institutions, and significantly increase the number of beneficiaries of the intervention.
“To this end, TETFund in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC) has intensified efforts in the implementation of the Trans-national Education Guidelines recently approved by President Bola Tinubu.”
The statement added that under the scheme, top-ranking institutions in the United Kingdom, United States, Malaysia, Brazil, and others would be encouraged to mount programmes in partnership with Nigerian institutions.
Oniyanji said this is in a bid to offer the same standard and quality of courses that are obtainable in their home institutions.
He added that beneficiary institutions of TETFund had been advised to prioritise their training needs for implementation in Nigerian institutions and ensure strict compliance.
The scheme was established by the Federal Government in 2011 to primarily disburse, manage, and monitor education tax to government-owned tertiary institutions.
