Twelve tertiary institutions across the six geo-political zones of the country have been allocated N25 billion for academic upgrade under the Special High Impact Programme of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
The Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufai, at the 2012 Strategic Planning Workshop organised by TETFUND on Tuesday, announced the 12 benefiting institutions which included the University of Lagos, for the fourth phase of the Special Intervention Fund.
The fund is meant for the execution of high impact projects covering learning, postgraduate training, research and publications.
According to Prof. Rufai, “six federal and state universities will each get N2 billion while three polytechnics and three colleges of education will get N1 billion each.”
These funds are in addition to N589 million given to all Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education as normal intervention fund for the year 2012 is meant to impact the academic growth of universities and other tertiary institutions.
She further revealed that besides the Special High Impact Fund, the 12 tertiary institutions are given normal interventions funds for the year.
These funds, she also disclosed, will be closely monitored to ensure they are put to good use by each university authorities.
The TETFUND is dedicated towards the improvement and maintenance of standards in higher educational institutions in the country. The minister also said “the allocations to institutions have increased with each passing year”.
The Minister of Education noted that with these intervention funds, inadequate funding can no longer be blamed for substandard education in Nigeria.
