By Abdul Lauya
The Minister of Education, Mr. Tunji Alausa, says institutions with fewer than 2,000 students will lose access to TETFund support.
Speaking in Lagos during a meeting with education stakeholders, Alausa said the government is revamping its funding policy for efficiency.
He warned that underpopulated schools can no longer receive the same funding as those with significantly more students.
The minister cited polytechnics with as few as 350 students still receiving equal TETFund allocations as unsustainable.
He announced that schools below the 2,000-student mark after five years of operation will be ineligible for funding.
Alausa emphasized the move is part of efforts to ensure public funds are spent for maximum educational value.
He also criticised the rise of satellite campuses, calling the trend “unsustainable and counterproductive.”
On foreign scholarships, Alausa said the government will now focus funding on building local postgraduate capacity.
He revealed that 85 percent of scholarship students sent abroad never return to contribute to Nigeria’s development.
To address this, 28 Centres of Excellence have been set up to enhance research and job creation locally.
TETFund Executive Secretary Sonny Echono said the agency is shifting to a performance-based and sustainable funding model.
Echono stressed that institutions failing to meet enrolment, financial, or academic standards could be delisted.
He urged institutions to avoid duplication, expand responsibly, and build partnerships for infrastructure development.
Echono clarified that the new policy aims to improve the effectiveness and transparency of TETFund interventions.
He called for deeper reforms and accountability across Nigeria’s tertiary education landscape.
TETFund was birthed in 2011 through the TETFund Act, replacing the Education Trust Fund (ETF), which was set up in 1993.
The fund is financed by a 2% education tax charged on the profits of registered companies in Nigeria, focusing solely on public tertiary institutions.
The core purpose of TETFund is to tackle underfunding in Nigeria’s higher education sector.
It aims to improve infrastructure, promote research, and support academic staff development.
The fund also enhances library resources and provides teaching and learning materials, geared toward raising the quality and competitiveness of Nigerian tertiary education.
TETFund supports institutions through project-based interventions.
It funds the construction of lecture halls, hostels, laboratories, and libraries.
It also sponsors academic staff for postgraduate studies both locally and abroad, provided research grants to encourage innovation and problem-solving relevant to national development.
Since its creation, TETFund has completed over 10,000 infrastructure projects across public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
It has also sponsored thousands of lecturers for training and postgraduate degrees.
The establishment of Centres of Excellence has helped boost research output and capacity building.
These achievements have made TETFund a key driver of progress in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
