TETFUND PhD scholarship beneficiaries seek Saraki, Dogara’s intervention in upward review of study funds

BENEFICIARIES of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) scholarship scheme for PhD programmes, studying in the United Kingdom, have implored the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, to intervene on their demand for upward review of their study funds.

They said the increase in exchange rates had adversely affected their study fund, which was being paid to them in naira, making it extremely difficult for them to pay their tuition fees in various educational institutions in Britain.

In a letter of appeal sent to both the senate president and speaker House of Representatives, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune Education, the beneficiaries, numbering 28, said their efforts to get the attention of executive secretary of TETFUND on their plights had not yielded positive result.

According to the letter, “the major cause of the shortfall is based on the increased rate of the Naira to British Pound Sterling. Many of us were awarded the scholarship at an exchange rate of between N260 and N285 per pound sterling. Presently, the rate has gone up significantly (N550-N600 per British Pound), making the awarded funds insufficient to cover for our study durations.”

The letter reads in part: “There has been increase in the cost of services and standard of living in the UK as a result of the British government’s decision to exit the European Union (EU) in 2016. Tuition fees in most UK varsities increased by 2.5 per cent”.

“We humbly state that TETFUND used to review its funds appropriately to enable the affected students. It is on the strength of this that we wrote the executive secretary of TETFUND on the 25 October, 2016, but sadly enough, we did not receive a favourable reply from him.

“At the moment, the funds, which we received in Nigerian naira, are not enough to pay for our tuition fees let alone accommodation and living expenses. The situation is worsened by the decision of Nigerian commercial banks to suspend Form A transaction, which we used for foreign transfer, leaving us only with the option of sourcing for British Pounds from the open market, it stated.

“Students who are due to re-register for the new academic session are presently unable to pay their tuition fees either due to insufficient funds or inability to obtain foreign or both,” it stated.