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•Sends SOS to education ministry, TETFund
By Gabriel Dike
Many PhD scholars sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) are finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations to various foreign institutions.
The TETFund PhD scholars are struggling to make the required tuition payment due to the exchange rate between the naira and the dollar.
The implication, The Education Report leant, is that many may be forced by the high exchange rate to abandon their government-sponsored programmes.
Investigations also revealed that many are stranded abroad and cannot foot their academic bills nor return home.
The TETFund scholars in Malaysia in an SOS dated July 27, 2023, and signed by the chairman of “TETFund scholars in Malaysia,” Abdullahi Ayuba Konkyei, acting secretary, Ajani Jimoh Olanrewaju, and the publicity secretary, Muhammed Kabeer Sulayman, sought government bailout to help the PhD scholars.
The letter was titled: “Save Our Soul: A passionate Appeal for an Urgent Bailout to TETFund scholars in Malaysia.” It drew the attention of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, and the Executive Secretary of TETFund to the plight of the scholars
It read: “With a high sense of humility, patriotism and respect, the TETFund scholars in various institutions in Malaysia under the TETFund Academy Staff Training and Development (AST &D) intervention write to make a passionate appeal for a bailout to ameliorate the financial constraints occasioned by the fluctuations in the exchange rate due to the new Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira floating policy, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the current economic reality.
“We appreciate the efforts and support of the Federal Ministry of Education, through the TETFund, in ensuring that a sizeable number of Nigeria scholars have benefited immensely from AST&D. The progamme without mincing words contributes immensely in shaping our educational sector by developing the manpower required to salvage and revolutionize the educational sector of Nigeria.
The leaders of the TETFund scholars said it is against the backdrop of the challenges that it plead with the education ministry through TETfund to revisit the scholarship fund template to reflect the present economic situation, and grant the scholars a bailout that would help them complete their programmes.
Responding The Education Report questions, Abdullahi said rise in the dollar is an economic phenomenon that affects all TETFUND scholars on foreign scholarship everywhere in the World, stating, “Whether you are schooling in Malaysia, the UK, India, S/Africa, Kenya, Uganda, from 2018 to date the dollar has never been stable.
He disclosed that the permanent secretary and TETFund boss has responded to the SOS. He noted; “We have written many times to them, especially to the Executive Secretary of TETFund whom we feel has the mandate to listen to our complaints and we have never heard from them. We started writing in 2020 when the naira was devalued to N380/$. Many of our fellow students wrote through their home institutions individually when we have not seen the need to come together to cry for this appeal. Last year scholars from Keyan wrote, I am aware that TETFund scholars in the UK, India, Cyprus and S/Africa did the same. It is so sad that nothing was done.
Abdullahi confirmed that many scholars are in debt and the majority of them are on bar statuses unable to sign up for the semester, noting, ‘’The majority of the students are stranded because they have exceeded their three years, are in severe financial need, struggling to feed, and hoping that something will be done to assist them in paying their overstayed tuition and completing their studies. Those who want to return home cannot because of the high rate of flight tickets. Let me add that our situation is this bad due to what we went through during the COVID-19 era spending money that was not budgeted for by the fund.’’
His words: “Yes. As I speak, after my open letter to the minister of education, I have received calls from many scholars who had traveled for data collection/fieldwork and cannot return back to continue. All of these indicate that, as things stand, we have scholars who are either stranded because they have exceeded their allowed number of years of study or are about to become stranded, as well as many others who are experiencing heavy financial difficulties. We are worried that many TETFund foreign academics may be forced to stop their studies if quick action is not taken to alleviate our hardship. Considering the huge investment TETFund has made in us, I entreat they do not behave like a woman who has one push to bring the baby and decides not to push to allow the baby to die.
“We will not want that to happen which is why we in Malaysia and TETFund scholars worldwide are pleading with the Hon. Ministers of Education and the TETFund management for prompt action in the form of a financial bailout to support us. This will go a long way to helping to eliminate hindrances against the successful completion of studies to return home and contribute to the development of our beloved country, Nigeria. Also, I would like to advise that going forward, the management of TETFund should liaise with PTDF to study their scholarship template with the hope of replicating such a model to solve this reoccurring problem of forex fluctuations.”
