By Oluwabukunmi
Abuja | A total of 4,645 lecturers from tertiary institutions across Nigeria received scholarships from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in 2024 to pursue advanced academic degrees both within and outside the country, official data from the agency has revealed.
According to figures obtained by The PUNCH on Friday, the lecturers were sponsored under the TETFund Scholarship for Academic Staff (TSAS) Scheme, which provides financial support for postgraduate studies aimed at improving the quality of teaching and research in public tertiary institutions.
The report shows that 215 scholars were sponsored for studies abroad, while over 4,000 lecturers were funded to undertake postgraduate programs in Nigerian universities.
The foreign countries where beneficiaries are currently studying include the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Kenya, Malaysia, Cyprus, Uganda, and India.
A breakdown of the foreign sponsorships indicates that 72 lecturers are pursuing post-doctoral research, 67 are enrolled in PhD programmes, 27 are studying for master’s degrees, while 49 are engaged in bench work or specialized research.
Within Nigeria, 2,539 academics are on doctoral scholarships, while 1,891 are enrolled in master’s degree programmes across various universities.
The data further revealed that TETFund conducted verification and monitoring visits to universities abroad where its scholars are domiciled. However, of the 361 scholars expected to be verified during the visits, only 211 were successfully verified by TETFund officials.
The TSAS initiative is part of TETFund’s broader strategy to boost human capacity in Nigeria’s higher education sector and enhance institutional competitiveness through research, innovation, and teaching excellence.
The agency emphasized that continued investment in academic staff development remains critical to achieving Nigeria’s national education and innovation goals.
