Tag: TETFUND

• Al-Hikmah varsity produces 26 first class

Vice Chancellor of an Islamic faith-based Al-Hikmah University, Prof Noah Yusuf has appealed to the Federal Government to amend the law establishing Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) to enable the fund extend its support to private universities in Nigeria.

Private varsities in the country have over the years, been clamouring for TETfund support.

Prof Yusuf added that private varsities in Nigeria would continue to advocate for their inclusion in TETfund, adding that the universities would soon take their case to the National Assembly to lobby the lawmakers.

“The issue of TETfund support for private universities has been on for awhile. Is it not illogical that private universities which are part of the private sector contributing to TETfund are exempted from benefiting?

“We urge Federal Government to amend the law establishing TETfund so as to factor in the private universities,” professor of.sociology has said.

The vice chancellor told reporters in Ilorin, Kwara state capital ahead of this week Saturday 13th convocation ceremonies of the university.

Read Also: Abuja One chance victim died before arrival at FCT hospital – Wike’s panel

He revealed that the university would produce 26 first class graduates at the convocation ceremonies.

“We are humbled and blessed to present to this gathering 1,207 undergraduates, 345 post graduates and 31 diplomas totalling 1,583. The breakdown is as follows: first class honours 26, second class honours (upper division) 472, second class honours (lower division) 600 and 109 third class. Others are 27 doctoral degress, two masters of philosophy, 211 masters,” he said.

Reeling out some of his modest achievements Prof Yusuf said that National Universities Commission (NUC) had successfully accredited “48 out 51 percent of our undergraduate academic programmes with full accreditation status.

“There has also been improved and sustained students enrollment since my assumption of office. For the first time in recent years, the university recorded the highest number of admitted regular and part-time and professional programmes– 1,287 in 2021; 1,450 in 2022 and 2,450 in 2023.”

The federal government has commissioned two hostels in Federal Polytechnic Oko in Orumba North local government area of Anambra State.

The male and female hostels which are valued at N550, 000,000.00 were sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund) from its 2020 Special Intervention.

Inaugurating the facilities, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum, Downstream, and member of the Committee on Education and TETFund, Ifeanyi Ubah reiterated the National Assembly’s willingness to continue working harmoniously with the Executive towards making the nation’s educational institutions globally competitive for economic and technological development.

Ubah, representing Anambra South Senatorial district in the National Assembly, also assured that the Senate would continue to provide the necessary support to the Fund through the enactment of legislation that would further advance tertiary education in Nigeria.

He said: “I wish to use this opportunity to assure you that the 10th Senate under the leadership of the Senate President, Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio and indeed, the entire National Assembly will continue to provide necessary support to the Fund through the enactment of legislations that would further advance tertiary education in Nigeria.

“Aside from support for physical infrastructure and provision of equipment at the institution, TETFund has also sponsored 101 lecturers for Ph.D. from the Polytechnic in both foreign and local institutions totalling N487,527,656.10.

Read Also: Tinubu inaugurates TETFund projects in Ebonyi, reiterates commitment to education

“TETFund has also sponsored 60 lecturers for Masters Degrees in both foreign and local institutions totalling N293,102,460.00, while 90 staff have been sponsored for Conference Attendance locally and abroad at a total cost of N111,471,159.50.”

The lawmaker urged the Polytechnic to take full advantage of the facilities and make good use of them for the educational and vocational development of the students.

Executive Secretary, TETfund, Arc. Sonny Echono said the projects executed between 2021 and 2023 would go a long way to stem the tide of negative influences on the student youth population and address security concerns in the Polytechnic community.

Echeno, represented by the Director of the Monitoring and Evaluation Department, Arc Babatunde Olajide said the projects were thoughtfully prioritised by the Polytechnic to address the aforementioned concerns as well as provide requisite infrastructure for the students’ wellbeing.

“In line with the “Renewed Hope” agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the Fund is committed to ensuring the sustenance of funding to all public beneficiary institutions to ensure our institutions attain high global ranking in delivery of academic content.”

While commending the Polytechnic management and project team for ensuring quality delivery and sticking to terms, Echono appealed that the facilities be put to their proper use and maintained to serve generations to come.

Earlier, Rector of the Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Francisca Nwafulugo described the hostels’ commissioning as a giant step in the institution’s quest to accommodate more of its students within the polytechnic towards enhancing their security and well-being.

“These hostel buildings made up of 26 rooms each with the capacity of accommodating 208 students altogether are equipped with modern facilities which are tailored to give our students a decent and conducive accommodation space to achieve peak performance academically.

“In addition to these hostels, we also have the School of Environmental Design and Technology Building which is a capital-funded project as part of what will be commissioned today,” she added.

Appreciating Tetfund for making it possible for an increased number of students to have safe and decent accommodation within the Polytechnic, the Rector said Tetfund had added value to the Polytechnic in so many ways and areas.

President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to the development of the country’s education sector.

The president also pledged continued support to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) so that it would continue to play its role in the development of Tertiary Education in the country.

He stated this while commissioning some TETFund-sponsored projects at Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.

Tinubu represented by the minister of works, David Umahi, noted that his administration has demonstrated commitment towards the development of education since the commencement of his administration on May 29, 2023.

He listed some actions and policies of his administration in this regard including the introduction of the students’ loan initiative to ease access to tertiary education for indigent students, and meeting personally with the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to discuss the welfare of Nigerian students.

His administration, he said, also approved a waiver of the No Work, No Pay order on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which would pave the way for members of the union to receive part of their withheld salaries.

Read Also: Budget: Nigerians should relax with Tinubu as driver, says Idimogu

He said: “These are part of conscious efforts being made by his administration to address challenges and create industrial harmony between staff unions and Government.”

He lauded TETfund led by the Executive Secretary Arc Sonny S.T. Echono for their efforts at effectively discharging the mandate of the Fund for the continuous development of public tertiary education in Nigeria.

He stated: “As we all know, education plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of nations. I wish to reiterate that education forms an integral part of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope agenda, hence the Federal Government would continue to provide necessary support towards making our educational institutions globally competitive for economic and technological development.

“It is on record that over the years, TETFund through the support of the Federal Government has performed exceptionally in the provision of physical infrastructure, support for academic staff training and development, book publication, ICT, Research and Development amongst others in public tertiary educational institutions across the country.

“I wish to assure you that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains committed to providing greater support and the enabling environment to enable the Fund to improve on its performance.”

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono said the institutions have so far enjoyed allocations of over N10bn for infrastructure-related interventions cutting across the Annual, Special, Special High Impact, and Zonal interventions amongst others.

He noted that about 88.24% of these funds have been accessed and deployed to address infrastructural deficiencies in the university.

He commended the Management of the University for assiduously monitoring and ensuring the successful delivery of the various intervention projects executed from inception.

He added: “We do not doubt that the projects undertaken with these funds have remarkably impacted the mandate of the university in facilitating teaching, learning, and research.”

“We are optimistic that these projects will strengthen the efforts of the university to become a global player in the tertiary education subsector and significantly contribute to research and development.

“Our resolve as a Fund is to ensure that our interventions are sustained and improved upon as much as possible to enable our institutions to undertake bigger, and more laudable and impactful projects that will make them become globally competitive and situate them in enviable positions among their peers both nationally and globally.”

The Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu, has appealed to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to include it as a beneficiary of the scheme.

The rector of the institution, Prof. John Emaimo, made the appeal in Enugu at a news conference to herald the second combined convocation of the college coming up on Saturday.

He said it was unfair denying the institution eligibility to access the fund, saying as a federal institution, its eligibility ought to have been automatic.

This, he lamented, had largely limited the rapid pace of progress in the college in both academic and the health sector.

Emaimo, however, noted that his administration had within the circumstance worked hard to build a number of classrooms and offices for students and staff. He said infrastructure deficit and inadequate funding still remained major problem facing the institution.

“Since my advent as the rector of this college, we have built a number of modern classrooms to ensure that our students learn in conducive atmosphere, yet we still need more.

“A major setback for us has been our inability to access tertiary education fund (TETFUND). We had thought that being a federal institution, our eligibility to access the fund should be automatic. But the reverse has been the case as several efforts we made had proved abortive.

Read Also: A’Court lays to rest Kano judgment CTC controversy

“We, therefore, call on all appropriate authorities and lovers of education who desire the kind of revolution that we are currently spearheading to bridge existing gaps in the areas of manpower development in our health and education sectors to come to our aid. Individuals and philanthropists are also called upon to support our quest for exclusive manpower development,” he said.

Despite the challenges, the rector noted that the college’s success story today was that “we have moved from being an institution offering only two courses and awarding only OND and HND in Dental Technology and Dental Therapy. We have expanded the frontiers of learning by opening a new chapter in the annals of this college.

“Following the enactment of the Federal College of Dental Technology and Dental Therapy (Establishment) Act, 2017, which empowers us to offer degree programmes, we have expanded the scope of our academic curriculum and commenced degree programmes. We are glad to inform you today that the first set of our degree students in Dental Technology, Biomedical Engineering and Public Health are among the graduands at this forthcoming convocation”.

He disclosed that the 2023 combined convocation would not be a mere tradition but a gathering of champions who would be shot into the world to make a difference in certain areas of the health sector often challenged by shortage of personnel.

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has unveiled a Beneficiary Identity Management Service (BIMS) to simplify and enhance the identification and management of students and lecturers across educational institutions in the country.

The platform, according to Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, at an educational summit recently in Abuja is a convergence of world-class and globally renowned educational resources aimed at reshaping the nation’s higher education landscape.

He maintained that BIMS is set to revolutionise the way students access educational services and more, being the gateway for accreditation and authorisation to access the Tertiary Education Research Applications and Services platform (TERAS).

The minister said: “The countless benefits that TERAS promises to bring to educators, students, and the entire educational community are awe-inspiring and must be fully exploited.

“Some of the benefits of BIMS include streamlined enrollment and identification processes; Enhanced data security and accuracy; personalized learning experiences; Access to tailored educational services; and Improved communication between students and educational institutions.”

Meanwhile, in his remark, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, shed light on the historical significance of the TERAS platform, which was born out of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

TERAS, he explained, has been meticulously designed to integrate various essential components, and at its core is the BIMS.

In this report, The Nation highlights the step-by-step guide on accessing the BIMS platform.

Read Also: Men God sent as providers are asking to split bills – Doyin

Step 1: Contact Your Institution’s ICT Director

The journey to activate your BIMS ID begins by reaching out to the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at your educational institution. This is the first step towards getting onboarded into the BIMS system. The ICT Director will guide you through the process and provide the necessary information to proceed.

Step 2: Receive Your BIMS ID, Email, and Password Details

Once your institution has onboarded you into the BIMS system, you will receive an email containing your BIMS ID, email address, and password details. Keep these credentials safe, as they are your keys to unlock a host of services offered by TETFund.

Step 3: Visit Bims.tetfund.gov.ng

With your login credentials in hand, visit the BIMS website at Bims.tetfund.gov.ng. This is where you’ll enter your BIMS ID and password to access your account. Make sure to verify your email address during this step to ensure that your account is associated with the correct contact information.

Step 4: Update Your Profile

 To fully utilize the BIMS system, it’s essential to provide all the necessary information. Update your profile with accurate details, including your address and phone number. This information helps in ensuring that you receive important notifications and have a seamless experience within the BIMS ecosystem.

Step 5: Change Your Password

As an additional security measure, consider changing your password to something more favourable. A strong, unique password is crucial for protecting your account from unauthorized access.

6. Finalisation on Account

Once you’ve successfully registered and activated your BIMS ID, you gain access to a wide range of incredible services offered by TETFund. These services can simplify your educational journey and improve your experience as a student.

supply to varsities, others

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has expressed its partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to ensure uninterrupted power supply in universities and other tertiary institutions.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, disclosed this when the Managing Director of REA, Salihijo Ahmad, visited his office in Abuja.

Lauding the partnership, “Energising Education Programme (EEP)” being implemented by REA in selected universities and teaching hospitals across the country, Echono said the importance of steady power supply in tertiary institutions cannot be over-emphasised.

“There is sheer acceptance that this is important for us as we move to improve not just the physical infrastructure, but also ICT infrastructure and research infrastructure in our institutions.

“A lot of these require constant supply of power. There are certain samples you must put at certain temperature for a prolonged period. There are certain operations you do in medical laboratory that you cannot afford power to cease even for a second.

“And, if we really want to guarantee a learning environment that can compete with others across the globe, one of the primary things we can do is to guarantee power in our campuses,” Echono said.

He called on the agency to revamp the project in some of the beneficiary institutions that had encountered challenges with the EEP.

Read Also: Senate, House agreement raises student loan to N10b

Echono also said that TETFund would explore the possibility of getting longer term financing from African Development Bank (AfDB) for subsequent editions of the scheme.

“You can get long term finance at affordable interest rate and it will enable us do more. With the instrument we have, we will have subsequent liquidity to defray the cost,” he said.

He added that getting long term finance package for the project would be cost effective as only short term (one year cycle) funds were currently available to the agency.

Earlier, the Managing Director of REA, Salihijo Ahmad, said the EEP was aimed at providing sustainable and clean power supply to 37 federal universities and seven university teaching hospitals across the country.

Ahmad noted that the programme had already commenced in 24 universities and selected teaching hospitals, calling for the cooperation of TETFund to ensure the total success of the scheme.

According to him, infrastructure is not just about classrooms and lecture theatres. “With the current situation in the country, it is becoming more apparent that we have decentralised power systems.

“They are very important for our institutions like universities and getting additional resources for the EEP from TETFund will go a long way to scale up the programme in the nation’s universities,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Mkar, Mkar (UMM), Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu has called for the inclusion of private universities in Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) programmes.

Gundu made the call  at the 12th to 15th combined convocation of the university held at the institution’s Convocation Square in Gboko,Benue State.

“Instead of merely allocating huge resources to public universities, TETFUND resources should be competed for by all universities; public and private in Nigeria. This will reduce abuse in the process and ensure that those who get TETFUND intervention get it on merit and not just because they are a public institution.

“This will require a review of the law setting up TETfund and the willingness of the stakeholders to accept competition and the fact that private universities ought to also benefit from TETfund,” he said.

Read Also: ‘Reps didn’t indict REA, TETFund bosses’

Speaker of the House of Representatives who was represented by the member representing Edu/Moro/Pategi Federal Constituency in Kwara State, Dr. Ahmed Saba, promised that the Vice Chancellor’s call for a change in TETfund establishing law to include private universities will be given deserving attention.

The event featured conferment of honourary doctorate degrees on four distinguished Nigerians as well as  graduation of first degree and other programmes for the past four years.

Those conferred with honourary degrees were: Prof. Toyin Falola – Doctor of Letters (D.Litt), Hon. Arc. Asema Achado -Doctor of Science (D.Sc), Princess Rosemary Osula Mku-Atu, Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) and  Mr. Terna Hemban – Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)

 High point of the convocation ceremony was the donation of N10 million by one of the honorees, Hon. Achado for school fees of indigent students.