From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Federal Government said it has concluded plans to construct state-of-the-art hostels in 36 different tertiary institutions across the country as a part of its effort to solve the problem of insufficient accommodation in campuses.
Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, disclosed this when the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) visited in Abuja.
Echono also said the fund was working on providing free internet for students in both public and private tertiary institutions across the country, introducing the students to Tertiary Education Research, Applications, and Services (TERAS), a digital service platform designed by the fund to address critical challenges faced by students, researchers, and institutions in accessing educational resources and research materials.
He said: “Students are at the centre of our interventions in the institutions. So, we will continue to support and partner NANS in all our interventions. President has directed that we give more attention to students not just words, but in deeds, and we have two specific programmes that we are starting this year to demonstrate that.
“The first is the physical infrastructure side. This year, we would be providing hostels for students in 36 tertiary institutions across the country, because we realised most places that students live in are so deplorable, and only about 15 per cent of students stay on campus. We want to ensure at least 50-60 per cent of our students live on campus.”