The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has awarded scholarships to 12 Nigerian lecturers from its beneficiary institutions to undertake various PhD studies in science-related disciplines in France.

The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, disclosed this at a pre-departure briefing for the lecturers in Abuja on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

Echono said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Campus France in August 2023 which gave birth to the first set of scholars leaving the country to pursue academic programmes in various fields of study.

The TETfund boss disclosed that the sum of N63,457,600.40 (77,862.16  euros) was for each lecturer for the three-year duration of the programme, totalling N761,491,924.80 (934,345.92 euros) for the 12 lecturers.

He added that the funds would be disbursed to each beneficiary in line with the provisions of the agreement with Campus France which was reached on April 18, 2023.

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While stating that the 12 scholars were approved by the TETFund management from eight institutions, Echono said the approval was Cohort 1 and was sequel to the call for the presentation of eligible prospective scholars earlier communicated to all TETFund beneficiary institutions.

He noted that the lecturers were not only sent to acquire quality education but also given access to explore research opportunities and in turn contribute their knowledge to the development of Nigeria.

The TETfund boss said: “One of the main interventions of TETFund is TETFund Scholarships for Academic Staff Training and through this over the years, we’ve been able to train close to 40,000 academic staff of tertiary institutions.

“France and Nigeria have excellent bilateral relations. We have so many commonalities, we have common interest in the Gulf of Guinea, and we have subsisting agreements in various fields including education, cultural engagements, and so on.

“But unfortunately, we have not codified or reduced this to the type of bilateral agreements.

“We have individual institutions, PTDF, and institutions on their own going to French institutions to get admissions but we didn’t have an agreement with them until last August we feel it is almost too late to meet the admission cycle.

“But the 12 scholars were able to beat that deadline. I am confident that the next set of scholars we are going to be getting multiple of the numbers we have today.”

The Star