The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has revealed that it has begun improving facilities in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education to draw in both international faculties and students.
Arc Sonny Echono, the Executive Secretary of TETFund who revealed this while receiving a team of the United Kingdom, UK, Government on International Education in FCT, Abuja, on Monday, Novemeber 6 had disclosed that priority will be given to UK institutions to foster linkages and partnerships.
Echono said the collaboration will bring Nigerian institutions to international recognition, adding that TETFund is presently ranking its 253 beneficiary institutions, using parameters such as how much multidisciplinary research they have been able to embark on, and their degree of internationalisation, among others.
He added that the Fund plans to bring Nigerian Tertiary Institutions into competitive advantage globally, to ensure that Nigerian graduates are internationally recognised.
The UK Government International Education Champion, Professor Sir Steve Smith, who led the delegation said the UK’s mandate to his team was to foster relations with the education and research systems of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India.
Smith, who was a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Exeter, had said the United Kingdom recognised the importance of retaining highly skilled individuals in their home countries. It was also said that the brain drain issue affected both the Nigerian and the international community.
He noted that it was a lot cheaper to study in Nigeria than it was to travel to the UK for three or four years and study.
Smith revealed that the team has been collaborating with the National Universities Commission, –NUC, on the specifications for transnational education and that it was reviewing a series of guidelines by the commission.
