JAPA: TETFUND: Over 137 sponsored students vanished while studying abroad
Over 137 students sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, according to the fund’s executive secretary, have vanished while studying abroad.
On Tuesday, Echono gave a speech when he testified before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee looking into the alleged misuse of N2.3 trillion in tertiary education tax by TETFund.
He emphasised that after finishing their programmes, the TETFund-sponsored scholars who were given the opportunity to pursue “higher education” abroad choose not to come back.
The Executive Secretary stated, “Some of the sponsored scholars have behaved unpatriotically when they leave, enjoying our scholarship and earning a higher degree before refusing to return, creating a serious crisis.
“You must return to receive the scholarship. You must have a guarantor, and in many cases, that person has been put through a lot of hardship because, in the event that you go missing, we hold the guarantor responsible for paying back all of the money that has been spent on your behalf.
According to Echono, TETFund is collaborating with stakeholders to implement “stringent and effective measures” against those who refuse to return home so that Nigerians can take advantage of their expertise.
“We think we can enforce the repayment for those who insist they won’t return in a system where we work with our embassies and the institutions,” he said.
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The students who don’t want to return to the country will be deemed persona non grata if they don’t pay back the money used to fund their programmes, he continued.
“We’ll write to the embassies, and they’ll make it available to those countries, and they won’t be able to get jobs,” Echono said. They will be considered to be outlaws fleeing their home countries.
The numbers are alarming, so we might have to adopt that tough stance. Over 137 fugitives were found during our most recent review of about 40 institutions.
In order to ensure that those who benefit from this programme must return, we will be asking for your help to strengthen some of the current regulations because it is a huge number that we cannot afford.
“Do so on your own, not through our scholarship or our sponsorship. We are not against people looking for greener pastures.”
Due to the current exchange rate crisis, the Executive Secretary of TETFund stated that the programme may be suspended.
However, when fees are due for scholars studying abroad, the apex bank demands that TETFUND source Forex on its own, according to Echono. Some taxes are paid to TETFund in foreign currencies at the account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He continued, “We run a system where our forex is sold on our behalf at an official rate and we apply like everyone else to get it, sometimes it results in additional cost.
We are currently discussing a year or two of suspension of foreign training with all of our stakeholders as I speak.
“The most recent changes to exchange rates are to blame. Based on our disbursement policies, we are unable to continue.
“The naira funds we allocated are insufficient to pay the training costs in dollars. For those who are already there, we now need more naira to cover the dollar needed to cover their yearly dues. We are attempting to halt.
He claimed that the majority of our education will now be provided locally by “our seasoned, first-generation universities and other specialised universities” in the nation.
He continued, “This way we can keep our resources in-house and deal with the change of foreign exchange variation.
Echono added that the federal government owns the TETFund for N371.3 billion, of which it has already repaid N46 billion.
He also refuted claims that TETFund improperly handled the N2.3 trillion fund.
Oluwole Oke, the committee’s chairman, added that the investigation was not intended to be a witch hunt and that the lawmakers’ goal was to stop the misappropriation of public funds.
