Education
We’re addressing plight of lecturers on foreign scholarships – TETfund
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has said that it is addressing plights of some Nigerian lecturers studying in foreign institutions under the TETfund Scholarship for Academic Staff (TSAS) programmes.
The assurance was given in statement by the Acting Director, Public Affairs of TETFund, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, in Abuja on Thursday.
Oniyangi said the lecturers were requesting for bailout to cater for shortfalls in their living expenses occasioned by fluctuations in Foreign Exchange.
He said the TETfund specifically noted appeals from scholars in Malaysia, India and Kenya, some of who had written to the Minister of Education and the fund, requesting for intervention to enable them complete their studies.
“It is instructive to note that upon the introduction of the TSAS programme in 2008, full tuition and living expenses of scholars were disbursed directly by TETFund to their employers i.e. the Fund’s beneficiary institutions.
“And were expected as part of TETFund guidelines to warehouse approved training cost in respect of foreign scholarship in domiciliary accounts.
“And then disburse tuition to approved foreign institutions of study and living expenses into scholars’ foreign accounts upon receipt of progress report on academic standing,” he said.
He added that due to complaints by numerous scholars and certain observations on non-compliance to stipulated guidelines by beneficiary institutions, the mode of disbursement was reviewed in August 2019.
According to him, TETFund commenced direct payment of tuition to foreign training institutions to mitigate the issue of exchange rate fluctuations, while disbursement of living expenses was still made to the institutions for retention in domiciliary accounts before transfer to scholars.
He said the aim is to protect the scholarship bond signed with their employers.
“Based on the foregoing, TETFund has been up to date in tuition payment to the training institutions of all affected scholars and indeed other institutions where TETFund scholars undergo various programmes.
“It is pertinent to state that despite the requirement of operating domiciliary accounts for living expenses of foreign scholars, some beneficiary institutions still kept such funds in local currency.
“Consequently, due to non-compliance to this requirement, scholars are often cut up on volatility of foreign exchange arising from the practice of keeping their stipends in local currency.
“To address this anomaly, TETFund with effect from 2022, commenced payment of living expenses directly to scholars after the first year until the end of the programme, with the burden of exchange rate variation borne by the Fund,” he said.
He added that TETFund had also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with some foreign institutions to safeguard its scholars and ensure seamless academic activities.
He expressed regret over scholars from beneficiary institutions who fail to open domiciliary accounts and as such were most affected by the current impasse.
“The fund has taken a position not to punish the scholars for non-compliance by their home institutions. Accordingly, the shortfalls in living expenses of the scholars are currently being computed by the Fund.
“This will be paid directly to eligible scholars and recovered from subsequent allocations of affected beneficiary institutions.
“Furthermore, given the steady rise in the cost of living index in these foreign countries, the management of TETFund has also proposed increase in the rates of living expenses to scholars with effect from the 2023/2024 academic year,” he explained.
He, therefore, appealed to affected scholars to be patient as the fund concludes individual computations and obtain necessary approvals for the extra budgetary expenditure.
Some parents of students of Oriwu Model College in Ikorodu on Sunday protested the sudden increase of boarding fees by the Lagos State Government.
The parents, who carried out the peaceful protest at the gate of the college, demanded the immediate reversal of the boarding fees which was increased from N35,000 to N100,000.
Mr Kazeem Oladuni, Chairman, Parents Forum Association (PFA), Oriwu College, appealed to the state Ministry of Education to reverse the increment to enable their wards resume school.
“Our children were supposed to resume on Sept. 9, butt we received a memo that one week has been added, which expired today, Sept.15.
“To our surprise, another memo came out on Sept.
13, indicating that the boarding fees have been increased from N35,000 to N100,000“We held a meeting with Lagos State Coordinator of PFA and resolved that the fees are outrageous for any parent at this time of hardship in the country,” he said.
Also, Mrs Adedoyin Badmus, who spoke on behalf of parents in the Igbogbo Area, Ikorodu, said education was supposed to be free.
Badmus, however, said the government was making it difficult for the children of many average Nigerians to acquire education with the sudden and astronomical increase in boarding fees.
Similarly, another parent, Mrs Mary Enaayi, appealed to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to consider the plights of many parents who are petty traders and struggle to ensure that their children access quality education.
Enaayi urged the state government to urgently reverse the fees to allow dividends of democracy to cut across all strata of society.
“I am appealing to LASG to consider that some parents are traders, but because they want their children to have quality education, that is why they registered them as boarders.
“With this outrageous amount, the careers of those wards will be shattered because their parents can not afford to pay the N100,000.
“Some have two or three children in the school, which means they have to withdraw due to the sudden increment,” she said.
The parents carried placards with inscriptions like ‘No reduction, No resumption’, ‘We need free education’, ‘Our government is wicked’, ‘N35,000 to N100,000 is too outrageous’, among others. (NAN)
The management of Kwara State Polytechnic in Ilorin on Saturday said it has unbundled its Higher National Diploma (HND) programme in the Mass Communication and Computer Science courses.The polytechnic’s Rector, Dr Abdul Mohammed, disclosed this in a statement signed by the institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mrs Halimat Garba.
He said the development was in compliance with the directives of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). “The decision, which is aimed at enhancing the quality and relevance of technical education, will take effect from the 2024/2025 academic session,” the Rector said.Mohammed disclosed that the unbundling was necessitated by the need to meet the demands of the global information, communication and technology industry.He added that the unbundling would also allow students to dive deeper into their chosen field and develop the specialised skills employers are looking for.“With the new development, Mass Communication and Computer Science as a programme ceased to exist at Higher National Diploma ((HND) level,” the Rector said.He said the management has approved the appointment of departmental heads for the new programmes that came up from Mass Communication and Computer Science.Mohammed assured that all necessary resources and support would be provided to the new departments to ensure effective implementation of the new programmes.(NAN)
Prof. Kamil Rauf, the Director of University of Ilorin’s Computer-Based Centre, on Monday said a total number of 16,097 admission-seekers, attended the institution’s 2024 Post-UTME screening.
Rauf expressed delight over the seamless conduct of the exercise while speaking with newsmen in Ilorin, attributing the huge number to adequate preparations put in place by the university management.
“The success recorded in the exercise was as a result of the material and human resources’ support given to the CBT by the management.
“During the exercise, the centre employed the use of high level technological innovation it put in place by the institution,” he said.
Rauf also noted that the quality of the infrastructure at the CBT had impacted positively on the university’s internal examinations.
He said these included departmental examinations, Institute of Education examinations, Centre for Open and Distance Learning examination (CODL), remedial examinations and Post-UTME screening.
Rauf said that University of Ilorin, was also a centre used to conduct the police and pension service promotion examinations.
“Others include, examinations for the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Nursing Council of Nigeria, and Agricultural Council of Nigeria, among others,” he said.
The Director was however silent on the number of admission-seekers the university would be giving admission to for the 2024/2025 session.
”I will get back to the media on this once the decision is taken,” he said.(NAN)
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