The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, has urged tertiary institutions to embrace digital learning and make effective use of technology-driven educational resources provided through the Fund.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, made the call at a strategic meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions, chairmen of governing councils and bursars.
He expressed concern over the slow adoption of the TETFund-supported digital learning platform, TERAS, saying i”nstitutions were yet to maximise the opportunities it offered for teaching, learning and research.”
According to him, the platform would enable institutions to adopt hybrid learning models, allowing students to participate in lectures and access educational resources without being physically present in classrooms.
“We should embrace technology and not fear it,” Echono said, urging university administrators and governing councils to ensure that lecturers and students were adequately trained to utilise available digital resources.
He said TETFund expected more than 60 per cent of teaching staff in beneficiary institutions to be competent in digital modes of teaching and learning.
Echono also challenged institutions to adapt their academic and administrative systems to emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, rather than treating them solely as threats to academic integrity.
He further disclosed that TETFund was migrating its intervention processes online, noting that institutions had been given sufficient time and support to adapt to the digital requirements.
The TETFund boss also urged heads of tertiary institutions nationwide to embrace public-private partnerships (PPP) to address accommodation challenges on campuses and reduce finding gaps.
He said “currently less than 50 per cent of students live within their institutions, while the remaining live off campus in private accommodations.”
He said students living off campus are often prone to security risks, a reason the Fund was intensifying efforts to support the development of student hostels through direct construction and private-sector partnerships.
“The initiative was aimed at providing safer accommodation for students, particularly those who often travel considerable distances to attend lectures, conduct research or use university facilities late into the night.
“The PPP arrangement offers institutions an opportunity to address their accommodation challenges without bearing the full financial burden of developing and managing hostel facilities,” he said.
According to him, under the proposed arrangement, institutions would primarily provide land, while TETFund would take responsibility for the counterpart funding, with private-sector partners expected to provide the developers and facility managers.
“Your requirement is to make the land available on your campus. Full stop,” he said, urging governing councils and heads of institutions to take advantage of the opportunity.
The TETFund boss, however raised concern over the slow response of institutions to the hostel development PPP initiative, insisting that the arrangement presented an opportunity that should be aggressively pursued.
Echono explained that the PPP model was not limited to student accommodation, stressing that institutions could also attract private investment into other commercial and service-oriented facilities within their campuses.
He listed shopping malls, pharmacies, commercial farms and other student-support facilities as areas where institutions could partner with private investors to generate revenue and improve campus services.
Echono explained that such partnerships had become increasingly necessary because of competing demands on government resources and the difficult economic environment, which had affected project costs and implementation.
He said global economic uncertainties, inflation and rising prices of construction materials had continued to undermine project planning, cost estimates and the implementation of TETFund interventions.
Echono also explained that the annual strategic engagement provided an opportunity for TETFund and beneficiary institutions to review intervention programmes, assess project performance and determine priorities for the following year.
Meanwhile, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has acknowledged TETFund’s contributions to the development of Nigerian universities, urging institutions to ensure that intervention funds were judiciously utilised.
The NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, represented by the Director of Research and Innovation, Mallam Faruk Mohammed, said TETFund had continued to play important roles in strengthening university education.
He stressed the need for institutions to provide safe learning environments and adequate accommodation for students while ensuring that resources allocated to them were properly managed.
Also speaking, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Chris Piwuna, commended TETFund for its interventions, which he said had continued to positively shape teaching and learning in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.
He urged policymakers to ensure that education reforms were carefully considered and supported by adequate institutional capacity before implementation.
