Access to Intervention: TETFUND mobilizes 26 North-West institutions
Augustine Okezie, Abuja
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), has conducted awareness workshop for 26 Federal and State tertiary educational institutions in the North-West geopolitical zone of the country as part of an ongoing Sensitization and Awareness Exercise.
A press statement which was signed by the fund’s Director Corporate Affairs and Public Relations, Mr Ebikwo Benn, and made available to newsmen in Abuja over the weekend said the exercise which is for all the beneficiary institutions of the Fund was in line with the determination of the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa, towards ensuring that all processes for the agency’s interventions are made open and known to all stakeholders.
The statement further added that Dr. Baffa, during the awareness exercise told participants at the various campuses of the institutions visited that the seminar became necessary to get rid of all the encumbrances encountered in accessing intervention allocations from TETFund.
He further noted that some of the encumbrances were as a result of lack of information, distorted or outright wrong information and unnecessary ambiguity created by some Desk Officers and staff of beneficiary institutions, adding that the seminar will now make all processes open to all stakeholders in the various academic communities.
The TETFund boss who insisted that his management is committed to ensuring beneficiaries adhere strictly to the established guidelines and procedures for smooth running of the TETFund operations necessary for maximum impact, explained that the seminar was not only to clear grey areas through a detailed presentation of all the requirements for each of the Intervention Lines but also to enhance a more cordial and effective collaboration between the beneficiaries and Management of the Fund.
During the sensitization workshops, teams from TETFund drawn from the relevant departments for the various intervention lines as well as from the Internal Audit Unit of the Fund made presentations, showing the audience how to comply with the guidelines of all TETFund interventions.
Apparently satisfied with the outcome of the seminar, some of the participants called for more, adding that TETFund should continue to conduct the exercise annually so that staff of beneficiary institutions would be kept abreast of any development or updates in the guidelines.
Speaking during the seminar at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Prof. KabirBala who represented the Vice Chancellor, thanked the Management of TETFund for what he described as timely seminar in the school, saying it would save the Management of the university a lot of stress in bringing up proposals for infrastructural projects as well as guiding would-be TETFund Scholars to be able to meet up with the necessary requirements.
The Sensitization and Awareness Exercise is expected to be concluded with visits to the North-East and South-East geo-political zones of the country this October.
