Forex crisis: TETFund considers suspension of overseas scholarships
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund has said the recent monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria has created difficulties in the payment of foreign scholarship tuition and stipends.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, disclosed this at a one-day Stakeholders’ Engagement on Emerging Issues with the TETFund Intervention in Abuja on Wednesday.
Echono said since the fund’s allocation was barely enough to service programmes under its Tertiary Scholarship for Academic Staff, the fund was considering suspending foreign scholarships while also considering an upward review of local scholarships.
”The Fund at this material time is also discouraging beneficiary institutions from initiating new Benchwork programmes.
”Additionally, there are issues related to scholars not returning to serve their bonds at their home institutions upon completion of their programmes.
”In fact, the challenge of scholars absconding has undermined and complicated the TSAS programme and bringing it under intense scrutiny.
”It is for these and other reasons that this engagement was organised. We need to address these challenges and find solutions to ensure the effective and smooth implementation of our scholarship programmes,” he said.
”We must send professors (of at least 10 years standing) for capacity building to top-rated overseas universities in carefully selected programmes on return to bolster doctoral education and supervision,” he said.
Okebukola added that rather than continuously spending a lot of funds on foreign training, local universities should be provided with state-of-the-art facilities while carrying out accreditation of postgraduate programmes. Punch
