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The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has raised concerns over the slow adoption of its digital learning platform, the Tertiary Education, Research, Applications & Services (TERAS), by beneficiary institutions, saying universities are yet to fully utilise the resources provided to improve teaching and learning.
TERAS is a centralised digital platform sponsored by TETFund to support learning, research, and digital transformation across Nigerian public tertiary institutions
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, said the Fund expected more than 60 per cent of teaching staff in beneficiary institutions to be competent in using the platform, stating that the non-utilisation of the platform is a waste of national resources, as money was spent to establish the platform.
He spoke during a two-day strategic engagement with heads of beneficiary institutions, chairmen of governing councils and bursars in Abuja on Wednesday.
Echono said TERAS provides access to more than 400 digital libraries containing thousands of academic articles, books and other learning resources, adding that the platform allows students to access lectures and course materials beyond the physical classroom.
“We should embrace technology and not fear it,” he said.
He also called on universities to develop internal systems to manage the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, particularly its potential use by students to engage in academic dishonesty.
He said institutions must learn to mitigate the risks while exploiting the benefits of emerging technologies to make graduates globally competitive.
The TETFund boss further disclosed that the Fund was moving all its intervention processes online, expressing concern that some older institutions were still struggling to submit reports and engage with the Fund digitally, almost four years after the transition began.
While acknowledging the challenges faced by newly established institutions, he said older institutions had little justification for their slow adoption.
Echono said the annual engagement was organised to review intervention priorities ahead of the succeeding year’s disbursement guidelines, assess ongoing projects and obtain feedback from beneficiary institutions.
He said the exercise would help determine programmes to retain, modify or discontinue based on their performance and relevance.
He also expressed concern over conflicts between governing councils and principal officers of institutions, particularly regarding procurement and project interventions.
He said the engagement was intended to improve understanding of the respective responsibilities of the parties and address disagreements affecting project implementation.
On student accommodation, Echono urged universities to embrace public-private partnerships (PPPs) to address hostel shortages, noting that fewer than 50 per cent of students currently live on campus.
He said TETFund had been aggressively pursuing hostel development through direct construction and private-sector partnerships, adding that institutions should take advantage of the opportunities available.
He expressed disappointment over the response of institutions to the proposed hostel PPP arrangement, explaining that the model requires institutions to provide land while private-sector partners provide the developers and facility managers.
He urged universities to explore other campus-based investment opportunities, including shopping malls, commercial farms and other facilities that could attract private capital.
Echono said the need to mobilise resources from different sources had become more urgent because of competing government priorities, economic uncertainties, inflation and rising construction costs, which were affecting project planning and implementation.
He urged institutions to identify projects capable of attracting private-sector investment while ensuring that students and staff operate in safe environments.
Also speaking at the engagement, Mallam Faruk, Director of Research and Information, who represented the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, said TETFund had continued to play important roles in supporting universities.
He urged institutions to provide safe environments and accommodation for students and ensure the judicious use of intervention funds.
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