University lecturers have decried Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) exclusion of faculties of Arts, Social Sciences, Education and Management Science from accessing Masters and PhDs scholarship in any foreign university.
The lecturers said TETfund came up with the new policy which stipulates that only lecturers in sciences and technology would be sponsored in foreign universities while the others could go to any university in the country.
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They stressed that the policy was coming after they had secured admissions into various universities outside the country.
A lecturer in the art department of a university in the North, who does not want to be mentioned, said they have applied for foreign scholarships which were to be sponsored by TETFund and while waiting for the disbursement they were denied access to the fund.
He said usually, there is a percentage allocated to sciences and the arts but “this time around they brought out a document last week giving a directive to universities not to forward any foreign scholarship for arts, only sciences and engineering.
“Law management sciences, social sciences and education are all excluded from accessing foreign sponsorship, this time it is 100 per cent sciences and engineering. The policy is harsh on us and it now becomes a punishment for us that we studied arts,” he said.
He noted that there are special universities for sciences and technology but none for arts and social sciences, saying, “We are not complaining about that but this time they are trying to remove us from the system.
“We need TETFund to review the policy because it looks like we are not needed in the system.”
He noted that though they were given the option of studying at home, “but the challenge is that most of us spent money to get these admissions and already have the admission handy and waiting for disbursement.
“It is when they commenced the disbursement that they came up with the policy.
“They need to review it because it is harsh on us and shows there is no balance in what they are doing,” he said.
Another lecturer who also does not want to be mentioned said: “We are not happy with the new policy because we in the academic world share almost the same thing in terms of our rights and privileges for further studies at the level of masters and PhDs.”
He said the “new policy is now talking about only sciences, technology and engineering, computer science as the ones for PhDs foreign scholarships while those for social sciences and management are not approved.
“It is not going to go well for us and even the Nigerian university system.”
While noting that Nigeria has universities of technology, aviation school and institutes that are doing all the science courses while there is none for social sciences, he said, that means there is a kind of injustice and imbalance policy.
“TETFund should reconsider this policy as it will not augur well because if you train one part of the academics (sciences) and you didn’t train the management and the social sciences, they cannot give what is required of them.
“So they should look at it as something we should enjoy the same right and privilege in Nigerian educational policy,” he said.
Reacting, the TETFund Director of Press, Abdulmumuni Oniyangi, confirmed that the new policy is encouraging science and technology, saying, “The reason is we are looking at exposing our people to modern technology and scientific approaches to solving problems.
“We do not have the equipment to enable them to do it and we are not saying science courses can’t be done in the country as well.”
He said when TETFund is sponsoring, it is 100 per cent sponsorship and not a partnership so it was not true that they have spent their money as claimed.
“The policy is not retrospective, it is just taking effect from the allocation we gave last week. Whoever has applied as against what has been given still stands and we are saying this is going forward,” he stated.
He however said he needed documentary evidence to ascertain if the complainers’ cases stood because there are a lot of people who are not TETFund beneficiaries but are making claims.
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