The Federal Government has given its approval for a total sum of N643.4 billion naira to be disbursed to beneficiary tertiary institutions across the country in 2024. Sonny Echono, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), revealed this information during a strategic meeting with heads of beneficiary institutions in Abuja. He noted that this disbursement represents the highest amount allocated since the fund's inception.

Echono attributed the increase in the disbursement to sustained efforts in expanding and enhancing the efficiency of education tax collection, which saw an increase from 2.5 per cent to 3.0 per cent in 2023. He detailed that 90.57 per cent of the fund has been earmarked for direct annual disbursement, with 8.4 per cent designated for special interventions, and 2.27 per cent allocated for stabilization to address emerging issues.

The breakdown of the disbursement includes specific amounts for each category of beneficiary institution. For the 2024 intervention cycle, each university is set to receive a total sum of N1,906,944,930.00, while each polytechnic will receive N1,165,355,235 and each College of Education will receive N1,398,426,282.00. These amounts comprise annual direct disbursements and zonal interventions.

Echono also highlighted the new intervention lines in the annual direct disbursement, such as the establishment of career centers and units in beneficiary institutions, as well as the development of skills for polytechnics. He emphasized the need for timely payments to contractors and vendors to ensure the proper completion of projects and urged beneficiary institutions to commence implementation as early as possible.

In response to the challenges of brain drain in the sector, Echono advocated for increased remuneration for lecturers to retain them within the country. He commended the National Assembly and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the increase in education tax collection and expressed hope for achieving N1 trillion in education collection by the end of 2024.

During the meeting, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, urged heads of institutions to redouble their efforts to achieve the renewed hope of President Bola Tinubu. He also called on the unions to serve as constructive critics and watchdogs in monitoring the implementation of projects at the institutions.

In response, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, commended the federal government for the prompt release of disbursement allocations and appealed for a review of the sharing formula to benefit the polytechnics sector more. The Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, emphasized the need for effective and efficient utilization of the allocation by beneficiary institutions.

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