TETFund halts foreign scholarships over abscondment

Sixteen months after it lamented that over 137 students sponsored on its scholarship abroad had absconded, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has halted sponsorship of scholarships abroad for academic staff.

A statement, yesterday, in Abuja by the Director, Public Affairs of the Fund, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, attributed the suspension to ‘excessive cost of training in foreign institutions as well as the high rate of abscondment of foreign scholars’.

According to the spokesperson, the ban will take effect from January 1, 2025. The statement reads: “The Board of Trustees of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has approved the suspension of the foreign component of the TETFund Scholarship for Academic Staff (TSAS) intervention

“The suspension, which is in response to the excessive cost of training in foreign institutions as well as the high rate of abscondment of foreign scholars is with effect from 1st January 2025.

“However, TETFund scholars, who have already enrolled in foreign institutions would continue to draw down on their scholarships till the end of their programmes.”

In July 2023, while appearing before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the alleged mismanagement of N2.3 trillion tertiary education tax, TETFund Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, had told lawmakers that over 137 students sponsored on scholarship abroad absconded.