The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has said that it has appropriated N1 billion for the construction of hostels in 12 institutions under the Fund’s 2024 intervention cycle.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Sonny Echono, disclosed this at a One-Day Workshop on ‘Emerging Areas of Students Needs in Beneficiary Institutions’, in Abuja.

Echono revealed that the 12 institutions, including six universities, three Polytechnics, and three Colleges of Education across the six geopolitical zones, were identified and selected to benefit from the ₦1 billion allocation.

He said the money would be utilized as equity contribution in partnership with private developers to construct hostels in the selected institutions.

“I am pleased to inform you that the Africa Plus Partners, in partnership with Akwa Ibom State University, will launch the construction of a 1, 600 capacity students hostel through the support of TETFund on May 15,” he said.

Echono said that the Fund was taking a closer look into some of the age-old problems facing many institutions, including students accommodation.

“Many of our students are either congested in the dormitories across campuses or living and studying outside the school environment.“

The existing hostels are not only grossly inadequate but most of them are in deplorable conditions especially with regard to functional utility and sanitation.

“This, definitely, will affect the performance and wellbeing of these students,” he added.

Echono noted that, in the face of scarce resources, the government had tried over the years to build student hostels across the country.

He said government appeared overstretched and unable to meet the ever-increasing number of students enrolling into the various institutions annually.

“As a result of this, we have at several fora advocated the consideration and involvement of the private sector under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to provide solutions to the student accommodation crises across institutions,” he said.

He also added that the repositioning of the teaching profession and the teaching practice intervention that the Fund had consistently made available to supervisors, was another area of concern of the Fund.

According to him, teaching practice provides experiences to supervisors and student teachers in-real time in the teaching environment and provides an opportunity for supervisors and student-teachers to practice the art of teaching before they become real teachers.

“This helps to perfect their ability and potentials in pedagogy. It enables supervisors and student-teachers to discover their weaknesses and strengths in the classroom and provides the opportunity to hone and improve their abilities.”

Teaching practice enables supervisors and student-teachers to develop positive attitude towards the teaching profession among several other important reasons.

“This is why the teaching practice intervention has remained a relevant intervention area of the Fund,” he said.

He disclosed that the Fund recently received a communication from the Federal Ministry of Education regarding the Presidential directive to TETFund on the support of teaching practice.

According to the TETFUND boss, the communication also contained the recommendations of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission regarding the teaching practice allowances.He, therefore, stressed the need to rework the teaching practice funding template currently in use, in line with the communication.

Source: NAN