Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund has charged the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to prevail on state governors to develop their basic education system for optimum grooming of students for higher education.
Executive secretary of the Fund, Professor Sulieman Bogoro, handed the charge, when the Zamfara state governor, Alhaji Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, who is also the Chairman of NGF, paid a courtesy call on him in Abuja.
Bogoro said the concentration of intervention on tertiary education was to ensure that the system was developed to institutions to international standards, where they could compete globally.
“Let me use this special privilege to say that since you are also the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, there is the need for the Forum to prevail on state government on the state of basic education in their states.
“TETFund’s concentration of intervention on federal and state tertiary institutions is to give state government the opportunity of preserving the money they would spend on tertiary, but divert it to the development of basic education with a view to matching the growth and development envisage at all levels of education in the country, Bogoro said.
He further reiterated the need for the country to go back to the early 60s, where education was given the right of place in governance, stressing that Nigerian universities were ranked among the best in the world, where other countries had to send their scholars here on sabbaticals on research works.
While TETFund was opening its doors on not only on infrastructural development, but staff training and development, Bogoro stressed the need for the Needs assessment project to address hostel situation in tertiary institutions.
“We are working in collaboration with regulatory agencies to produce productive researchers at the tertiary levels, but let governors know that major challenges are in basic education.
“Dearth of qualified teachers is another, enrollment is at low ebbs, but good enough the APC manifesto has promised to improve the condition of teachers in the country”, he added.
Earlier, Abubakar Yari had said that they were in TETFund to commend the Fund of the good works noticeable in tertiary institutions across the country.
While pleading that TETFund should increase its intervention in tertiary institutions, he said the NGF would collaborate with the Fund to ensure more achievements and successes.
“Education has no alternative, therefore the best that could be given to a country like ours, is sound education”, Yari said.
