Tinubu approves N683b as 2024 intervention fund for public tertiary institutions

President Bola Tinubu has approved a total of N683,429,268 billion as the 2024 intervention fund for public tertiary schools in the country.

Sonny Echono, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, made this known on Friday at the Fund’s strategic planning meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.

According to him, from the total, 90.75% is earmarked for direct disbursement, 8.94% for some designated special projects, and 2.27% is budgeted for response to emerging issues.

He also disclosed that each university shall get for the 2024 intervention cycle a total sum of N1,906,944,930.00, polytechnic N1,165,355,235.00, and each college of education N1,398,426,282.00.

TETFund was set up by the Federal Government to arrest the rot and deterioration in the educational infrastructure occasioned by a long period of neglect and very poor resource allocation.

It provides supplementary support to all levels of public tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding alongside project management for the rehabilitation, restoration, and consolidation of tertiary education in the country.

The TETFUND Act, which took effect in June 2011, prescribes 50% to universities, 25% to polytechnics, and 25% to colleges of education.

Lecturers in the country’s public schools have often resorted to strikes to drum up their demands, which also included better pay and improved facilities for learning institutions.

In late 2022, university lecturers suspended an eight-month strike over pay, welfare, and crumbling facilities.