Government of The Gambia has announced plans to undertake a study tour of Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) as part of efforts to strengthen funding for tertiary education in the West African country.

The announcement was made yesterday in Abuja when The Gambia’s Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Gomez, led a high-powered delegation to the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, at the Fund’s headquarters.

Gomez disclosed that The Gambia had established the Tertiary and Higher Education Trust (THET) Fund, modelled after Nigeria’s TETFund, and would soon send officials to Nigeria to understudy the Fund’s operations.

He said The Gambian authorities had closely followed TETFund’s activities and achievements through its website, social media platforms and other media outlets, prompting the country to adopt a similar intervention model to support its higher institutions.

Responding, Echono welcomed the Gambian delegation and provided an overview of TETFund’s evolution from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) into the country’s foremost intervention agency for tertiary education.

He explained that TETFund was established against the backdrop of the funding crisis that confronted Nigeria’s tertiary education system more than three decades ago, necessitating the creation of an alternative funding source for public institutions.