TETFund: Putting Money Into Education for Students

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), a major force behind educational growth, is dedicated to giving students the tools and assistance they need to succeed academically.

The strategic investments made by TETFund in student education are intended to solve contemporary issues and promote a more vibrant and encouraging learning environment.

The Fund keeps improving the quality of education at Nigerian universities by means of targeted investments and cooperative projects.

TETFund is committed to fostering an atmosphere that supports academic performance by means of a variety of activities designed to improve learning outcomes and student welfare.

Furthermore, by way of grants, scholarships, and capacity-building initiatives, the TETFund enables educators and students to make significant contributions to the socioeconomic advancement of Nigeria.

A few weeks prior, TETFund planned a one-day event "Emerging Areas of Students Needs in Beneficiary Institutions" workshop was held in Abuja.

During the session, Arc. Sonny Echono, the executive secretary of TETFund, directed lecturers in charge of career centers in education colleges to provide students with necessary knowledge and abilities in current technology, thereby making them employable and competitive in the global workforce.

Additionally, he emphasized that people must make the sacrifice of self-training, pointing out that there are new communication techniques and abilities.

"Let your students compete with their peers and stay ahead of the game with cutting-edge that has become normal in other countries. Don't make them as analogue as we are."

He revealed that the Career Services Center was established by TETFund to supplement other programs at higher education establishments during the 2024 funding cycle.

The Fund believes that the creation of these centers is essential to the advancement of students' careers and employability, which is the primary goal of higher education establishment. According to him, career services centers have aided students in developed countries in making well-informed selections about their professional pathways.

He claims that the primary goal of the workshop was to generate ideas for a few selected intervention areas that are thought to be very advantageous for both the institutions and the students, who are the end users of all the interventions in postsecondary education.

He went on to discuss the career centers, saying that they "provide students information on trends in the employment market, prospects, necessary competencies, and connections to the workforce, including alumni from the schools, are all important.

They give students the means to evaluate themselves in order to determine their potential, interests, capabilities, and shortcomings. All students can also receive counseling, direction, and support from career centers.

"The Fund recently received a communication from the Federal Ministry of Education regarding the Presidential directive to TETFund on the support of teaching practice and the recommendations of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission regarding the teaching practice allowance, which now includes Faculties of Education in our Universities," the head of the TETFund further revealed.

"While the Fund, as approved by the Board of Trustees, supplied supervisors with a three-day Duty Tour Allowance, based on the civil SERVICE RULE.

The Salaries and Wages Commission allows for the payment of monthly stipends to supervisors and student-teachers at approved rates, regardless of rank or grade level, and without provision for transportation. The suggested rate of service and a transportation assistance based on grade levels are provided.

"The Fund is required to abide by and carry out the letter and spirit of this government direction.

He did point out, though, that the problem called for group brainstorming, which might result in a revision to the funding model for teaching practice that is currently in use.

Harmonization is necessary to attain shared acceptability because it appears that the Fund and the Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission used different methodologies in computing the allowance.

"The Fund acknowledges, in every way the importance of including student teachers and education faculties, which is to increase the appeal of the teaching profession.

He said, "We will be making the necessary adjustments in our disbursement guidelines going forward, in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Education, considering the impact of these provisions on our disbursement policies and processes."

Dr. Smart Olugbeko, the national president of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), also spoke at the workshop. He pointed out that the workshop's objectives included addressing emerging students' requirements in the areas of career centers, teaching methods, and hostel development, among other things.

Although he praised TETFund for setting up career centers, he asked the centers to investigate the issue of college students' employability as Labor employers have expressed reservations about it.

The employability of our students is a key area of concern that we must investigate, since this is one of the main issues that employers of labor have been raising regarding the employability of our graduates.

"It's not just about the curriculum we teach in our different schools; it's also about how we've prepared our students and graduates to teach in our different schools or find employment when they leave the different institutions," he stated.

He emphasized the significance of skill development for individuals in charge of the career centers so they can be well-equipped to teach pupils how to carry out these tasks, emphasizing that you cannot give away what you lack.

"We're talking about the function of enabling them to have a productive and active interface with the industry and society, and that can actually be handled by an expert—someone who is qualified to do that kind of work," he stated.

Additionally, Olugbeko made a plea to the TETFund to guarantee infrastructure uniformity, arguing that it would be inappropriate to ask institutions to establish career centers in the absence of infrastructure that is uniform and functional, similar to the government-provided microteaching infrastructure found in every college.

"If we permit organizations to utilize facilities that are inadequately authorized to serve as career centers, then we will have non-operational career centers," he stated.

The president of COEASU also urged TETFund to step up its monitoring and evaluation efforts in the centers, cautioning that insufficient monitoring will not provide any significant results from the centers, regardless of the extent of involvement offered.

Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, thanked the TETFund for its assistance with career centers in CoEs and other postsecondary educational establishments.

Noting that educators have more work to accomplish in society today than ever before, Okwelle pointed out that cancelling in the institution has to go beyond making career choices to look at how to fit into the different career routes that may be found in education.

"Due to the complexity of the society you teach, teachers now have significantly higher expectations than they did in the past. Therefore, we must be prepared to use a variety of strategies to help kids realize that not everything that comes their way has to be taken," he stated.

The executive secretary of the NCCE also revealed that the institutions are legally authorized to provide degree programs in addition to teacher preparation for the basic education subsector.