Manpower development and its and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund): The Nexus, a study of selected Tertiary Institutions in Delta State, Nigeria (2011-2020)

Abstract

The quality of manpower in tertiary institutions is crucial for the attainment of high educational standards, improved staff efficiency and enhanced  productivity levels. Studies have confirmed the problem of poor funding of tertiary institutions in Nigeria which has been a major challenge as quality of  education keeps falling. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was therefore established in 2011 by the Federal Government to disburse, manage  and monitor education tax to government owned tertiary institutions in Nigeria with the aim of addressing the issue of funding. It is against this  background that this study assessed the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and Manpower development in selected tertiary institutions in Delta  State. The study focused on the relationship between TETFund and research development, academic staff training and development and staff attendance  to conferences and workshops. The survey research method was adopted with copies of questionnaire distributed to Management and Staff  of nine tertiary institutions in Delta State. Interviews were also conducted with individuals and stakeholders while the hypotheses were tested using the  Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The study revealed that TETFund has a significant and positive relationship with research development, academic staff training and development as well as staff attendance to conferences and workshops. However, the multi-institutional structure of tertiary  institutions in the state hinders institutions from getting interventions annually and most state governments rely solely on TETFund for the development  of their institutions. Other shortcomings were also identified which includes poor awareness of TETFund interventions by staff, bias selection of  beneficiaries and cumbersome documentation processes involved in accessing interventions. Consequently, this research recommended among other  things, the regulation and critical assessment of the proliferation of tertiary institutions, compliance of both federal and state governments to UNESCO’s  benchmark of 26% budgetary provision for education and reduction of bureaucratic processes involved in accessing funds by beneficiary institutions.