FG halts foreign scholarships, redirects funds home

The Federal Government in Nigeria has halted foreign scholarships and redirected funds towards strengthening domestic tertiary institutions, according to Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education. This decision aims to eliminate unnecessary expenditure and ensure better value for public resources. Alausa highlighted the redundancy of spending scarce public funds on students studying courses already available in Nigerian universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, particularly when the students would have to learn additional languages like French beforehand.

He emphasized that the government's previous expenditures on such scholarships were inefficient and wasteful. The latest stance follows the discontinuation of government-funded Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarships, although beneficiaries already enrolled under the previous arrangements would continue to receive support until their studies are completed.

The government intends to be more selective in committing public funds to overseas education, allowing foreign countries to sponsor Nigerian students without requiring financial support from the Nigerian government. This policy aligns with the broader reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on strengthening domestic tertiary institutions, expanding technical and vocational education and training, improving digital education, and promoting research and innovation.