By Felix Khanoba
The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, says the Fund has started the review of guidelines for disbursement of funds to beneficiary education tertiary institutions.
He stated this during a one – day meeting of heads of beneficiary institutions in Tuesday in Abuja.
Echono, said the review would enhance better service delivery to the institutions.
The Executive Secretary, also explained that TETFund had done some internal auditing of its staff to achieve better efficiency in the system.
He said: “We are reviewing our processes for enhanced and better services delivery to our beneficiary institution. We are currently re-working our 2007 edition of Guidelines for Disbursement and will make it available to you, when competed.
“We have also done some internal auditing of our staff to achieve better efficiency in the deployment to various departments of the Fund. We also requested you to do the same with respect to TETFUND Desk officers and a summary of our expectation will also be presented at this forum.
“TETFund is hopeful that these and other similar measures will place the Fund in a better position to discharge its mandate and functions to the nation”
According to him, the meeting would provide an opportunity for both of them to focus on a number of concerns by the Fund in delivering its mandate as enshrined in the Act.
Speaking further, Echono said TETFund was for the first time adopting the bottom -up approach to the budgeting process for the Year 2023 intervention cycle.
“We are also for the first time adopting the bottom-up approach to the budgeting process for the Year 2023 intervention cycle. As beneficiaries and institutions that execute the intervention lines, we will appreciate your inputs and suggestions for better delivery of the intervention budget.
“Another area of concern to the TETFUND is the Research intervention lines. From available data, the nation is yet to benefit significantly from the desired impact of this intervention line.
“We shall therefore be considering new pathways to achieving greater impact on our various R & D interventions. Other areas of deliberations will be promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and employability of graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions, feedback on the TETFUND Skill G intervention project from inception till date and a brief presentation by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on the procurement processes to facilitate speedy and seamless implementation of projects as chief accounting officers amongst others”
The meeting brought together heads of beneficiary institutions, vice chancellors, rectors and provosts of public tertiary education institutions from across the country.
