TETFund Engages NANS To Monitor Projects In Tertiary Institutions

In renewed efforts to ensure transparency in the execution of it’s interventions, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), has engaged the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to monitor it’s projects on campuses in tertiary institutions nationwide.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arch. Sonny Echono, partnered with the student union on Monday in Abuja primarily to report erring contractors, even as a 30-seater brand new Toyoto Coaster bus was donated to the union to ease it’s movement.

Echono who added that the fund was also designing interventions to address students hostel challenges amongst others, noted that it was in continuation of its dialogue with stakeholders of which students were at the center of education issues.

He said: “We want to be able to identify on each campus a contact person that will be able to checkmate our projects so that we can have a first hand information, even before sending our team there.

“We are doing several engagement with other stakeholders. So, going forward, this will make our monitoring process more transparent.”

NANS President, Usman Barambu assured the board the union would put thorough checks across campuses to ensure all contractors who handle TETFund projects carry out such projects.

The student body commended the board for donating a 30-seater coaster bus to them, following their request, “We are here to thank you and encourage the entire management to do more and more for Nigerian students.”

Meanwhile, TETFund had vowed to bridge the existing digital skills gap with the view to
help the country produce graduates with capacity to be compete with their counterparts globally.

Executive Secretary, TETFund, Sonny Echono who spoke at the 2023 train the trainer ICT Capacity Workshop for Beneficiary Institutions in North Central Zone in collaboration with Fides Et Ratio Academy Limited, stressed the need for capacity building, internet access availability, electronic journals, data base subscription in institutions.

According to him, there was a mismatch between employers and skills produced by graduates which digital literacy could address by helping to producing enough skill manpower that would service the country’s growing population.

Echono hinted that the Federal Government had drafted a policy as a minimum academic standard which would require that graduates possess an ICT knowledge before graduation.

”In today’s world, there is the template on which one can operate. Even our teaching staff, non-teaching staff and management staff, including majority of the work force do not possess this digital skills.

”We are TETFund want to do our best to bridge that gap and if we succeed in ensuring our students are digitally literate, it will make them marketable and create avenue for enhance. research,” he said.

Lead Consultant Fides Et Ratio Academy Limited, Mr Paul Chukwuma explained that identified challenges and gaps through the needs assessment of TETFund informed the decision of the Fund to bridge the digital gaps in the tertiary institutions.

”It is only in Africa and most especially the Sub Sahara we have the list publishing names of richest company including richest men and women and most of them coming from non ICT sector.

”We intend to see young technology company coming on top five in the list. To get this done, we must place emphasis on 0001596069 skills and no more on theoretical skills because the university is suffering from the connection between industries and the citadel of knowledge.”