Tertiary education trust fund intervention on academic staff capacity building in Lagos State University, Nigeria

Received Nov 06, 2019 Revised Feb 20, 2020 Accepted Mar 3, 2020 The study adopted the descriptive survey research design to assess Tertiary Education Trust Fund intervention on academic staff capacity building in Lagos State University, Nigeria. The population for this study was all academic staff of Lagos State University. Two purposes of the study were raised and two research questions were also formulated. One hundred and ninety-six questionnaires were randomly administered to one hundred and ninety-six (196) academic staff in the university. The questionnaire titled “Tetfund Intervention on Academic Staff Capacity Building Questionnaire” was used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that provision of infrastructure for effective teaching and learning is the major the fund intervention towards qualitative transformation of academic staff in Lagos State University. The finding of the study also showed that the fund intervention in Lagos State University for academic staff capacity building was major priority. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the fund should eliminate the level of bureaucratic bottlenecks often associated with accessing approved funds. Having noted that University education is costeffective, donor agencies and philanthropic individuals and groups, should assist governments in funding tertiary education in the country.


INTRODUCTION
The challenges of tertiary education in Nigeria are poor structure, inadequate library and laboratory equipment, poor infrastructural facilities, poor innovative and creative approach to learning, poor scientific information and technological Literacy, inefficient allocation of the meager resources available to the sector. The role of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Tetfund) cannot be over emphasized in addressing aforementioned problems. The tertiary education trust fund was originally established as Educational Trust Fund (ETF) by act No.7 of 1993 as amended by act No 40 of 1998 now repealed and replaced with Tertiary education trust fund (Tetfund). It is an intervention agency set to provide supplementary support to all level of public tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding alongside project management for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in Nigeria [1].
The main source of income available to the fund is the 2% education tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) assesses and collects the tax on behalf of the government [2]. Education is regarded as the sine quo-non for societal development. With the level of underfunding in tertiary institutions in West Africa, there is the need to evolve worthwhile strategies that will make it possible for the institutions to achieve qualitative and transformed education. The provision of requisite instructional materials and equipment in the various course programmes of tertiary institutions in Nigeria is grossly inadequate. This is one of factors that calls for the intervention of Tetfund in the sector [10].
As part of the responsibilities of Tetfund, they provide fund for academic staff to embark on in service training and development by sponsoring their further training in various academic fields, both local and international [6,11] Also discovered that due to Tetfund interventions, many lecturers have been sponsored to local and international seminars and conferences in addition to Tetfund sponsored oversea training and retraining of academic staff. [12]. Findings revealed that staff development improve academic staff competence and proficiency which boost their productivity and performance for quality and academic excellence in the school. In tertiary institutions in Lagos State, participation in staff training and development is open to both male and female academic staff. However, access to it may be hindered or delayed due to certain factors specific to a particular group of people. Article 8 (b) of the World Declaration on Higher Education in the 21st century mandated the higher institutions to offer varieties of training programmes which include short courses, part-time, modularized courses, and distance learning. It has been noted that every economy is investing in research and knowledge generation through human capital development [13][14][15][16] which will equip them to face economic challenges, competitions and their areas of needs. The training of teachers helps the education system cope with the changing society and the universities to boost their human capacity, teaching, research, skills, mentoring and knowledge acquisition. In the same vein, universities cannot exist without adequate provisions for updating and improving research, teaching and learning processes of their staff both male and female.
Education in Nigeria has been faced with so many problems including funding which has resulted in decay of physical structures poor library and laboratory equipment, poor teaching and learning materials, poor innovative and creative approaches to modern education system poor research and obsolete books and poor staff/ lecturers training among others [17]. In the light of these problems, government, after the past attempt failed to solve existing problems, decided to introduce Tetfund to overcome the above stated problems in order to standardize the education system. The intervention programe of Tetfund that provides staff capacity building is the Academic Staff Training and Development (ASTD) It has been noted that the process of accessing funds from Tetfund is quite complicated thereby leading to delayed approval of funds for intervention projects [8,9].
Tetfund provides funds to all federal and state-owned tertiary institutions on areas such as research, training, conferences, and staff development; for example, on the area of research, Tetfund provides ₦20m (US$63,391.60) for each university as annual intervention for research [18]. The question is how many academic staff members benefit from this Tetfund interventions. Academic staff members in Nigeria can ISSN: 2089-9823  Tertiary education trust fund intervention on academic staff capacity building in… (Abulaziz Isiaka) 157 conduct quality research and find solution to societal problems if they are well motivated by way of accessing research grants [19]. B. I. Bako say [20] Stated that the bulk of university research has been self-funded by graduate students, staff-in-training and academic staff, and over 80 per cent has been from salaries and parents. Similarly, [21] reported that graduate students, staff-in-training and academic staff are poorly paid, research funding is capital intensive. Unfortunately, not much funds have been provided for research in Nigeria by government compared to developed countries of the world. For instance, [22] reports that Jedulius Okojie, the former National Universities Commission (NUC) executive secretary, in a workshop organized by the West African Association of Research and Innovation regretted that Nigerian Government since independence has not made it a priority of allocating substantial funds for research in the universities. Without proper funding from government, university-based researchers and scientists cannot undertake meaningful research, and the country cannot make substantial economic and industrial progress.
Theoretically, this study adopted the Public Goods Theory by [23]. The Public goods theory has two main assumptions: a. A good once produced for same consumers can be consumed by additional consumers at no additional cost. b. There is non-excludability, which means that it is difficult to keep people from consuming the good, once it has been produced. According to [23], goods with these characteristics will be under-produced in the private sector, or may not be produced at all. Following the conventional wisdom, economic efficiency requires that the government forces people to contribute to the production of public goods, and, then, allow all citizens to consume them. A public good is a good produced by government and generally made available for the benefit of its citizens. The explanation of "public" by [24] throws more light to the public goods analysis. For [25], there are three characteristics of "publicans". Public purpose, Public ownership and Public control. Education is a public good. The public goods theory provides justification for large public expenditure in education. This is based on the assumption that it is only the government that can effectively provide education services appropriately to the citizens given the varied externalities associated with it. These Universities are public enterprises, owned and controlled by the governments for the public interest/purpose; hence, demands accountability from the University authorities. Evidently, the injection of Tetfund projects into theses Universities ensures that goods (Education) with public goods characteristics are efficiently and effectively provided. By so doing, education as public good is made available and affordable to the greater majority a situation that foster government as well as its stakeholders' interest/benefits. [23]. The main purpose of this study was to examine the extent of Tetfund intervention in Lagos state university and specifically was to examine the benefits of Tetfund intervention towards quality transformation of academic staff capacity building in Lagos state university; and assess the impacts of Tetfund intervention on capacity building of academic staff in Lagos state university. a. What are the benefits of Tetfund intervention in qualitative transformation of academic staff in Lagos State University? b. What are the impacts of Tetfund intervention on capacity building of academic staff in Lagos State University?

RESEARCH METHOD
This study adopted a descriptive differential research design to examine TETFUND intervention on academic staff performance in Lagos State University. The population for this study consisted of all academic staff of Lagos state university, Lagos state, Nigeria. One hundred and ninety-six questionnaires were administered to one hundred and ninety-six (196) academic staffs in Lagos State University. Forty-nine (49) academic staff were randomly selected from four faculties. Selection of one hundred and ninety-six (196) respondents was based on research advisors for the study. The instrument comprised twenty (20) items to elicit response from the participants. The instrument had 2 sections. The section A dealt with the personal information of the respondents on benefits of TETFUND intervention in qualitative transformation of academic staff in Lagos State University while section B addressed benefits and impacts of TETFUND intervention on academic staff capacity building in Lagos State University. The scoring of the questionnaire was based on four-point Likert type scale and rated as Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. The instrument was subjected to face and content validity by two experts in the Department of Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin. The corrections and suggestions were used to prepare the final draft of the instrument. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through test re-test method. Thirty copies (30) of the instrument were administered to academic staff in a University in North Central of Nigeria twice, the data generated were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics and coefficient of 0.83 was obtained which made the instrument reliable for the study. The data collected on the 2 research questions were analyzed using mean rating spearman ranking order. Table 1 indicates that 196 respondents participated in this study. The major Tetfund intervention towards quality transformation of academic staff in Lagos State University was provision of infrastructure for effective teaching and learning with a mean score of 2.76 (1 st ), while the academic staff acquisition of better skills and knowledge for imparting knowledge through Tetfund intervention ranked second with a mean score of 2.73. The significant role of Tetfund intervention on research and academic growth in LASU came third with a mean score of 2.68. The lecturers in LASU accessibility and utilization of Tetfund intervention ranked fourth with a mean score of 2.53. However, other statements had their mean scores below the benchmark of 2.50.  Table 2 indicates that 196 respondents participated in this study. Consideration for Tetfund intervention in Lagos State University for academic staff capacity building was ranked highest with mean score of 2.91 because it is an effective tool for staff higher productivity in academia. In addition, the role of Tetfund intervention in transforming teaching and learning positively through academic staff development programmes in LASU ranked second with a mean score of 2.85. The respondent opinion on positive relationship between Tetfund intervention on capacity building and increased academic performance was ranked third with a mean score of 2.70. Similarly, respondents' opinion on positive impact of Tetfund intervention on academic staff performance came fourth with a mean score of 2.60. The respondents view on more disbursement of Tetfund intervention to lecturers for research and better performance in LASU ranked fifth with a mean score of 2.60. However, other statements had their mean scores below the benchmark of 2.50.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS Research Question 1: What are the benefits of Tetfund intervention in qualitative transformation of academic staff in Lagos State University?
On a general note, the aforementioned analyses revealed that provision of infrastructure for effective teaching and learning is the major Tetfund intervention towards qualitative transformation of academic staff in Lagos State University. It is therefore not a surprise to observe concentration of Tetfund projects in terms of building, furniture, vehicles etc in many university campuses in Nigeria. This result is in consonance with the report of [25] that TetFund has alleviated the Universities problems in the area of infrastructures, instructional materials and equipment and needs to do more in the area of human capital development. This is suffix to say that Tetfund Interventions in Nigerian Universities particularly in LASU have impacted positively on the infrastructural and human development in the institution; the implications of this for sustainable development of tertiary education in Nigeria. Similarly, as evident in the findings of this study the academic staff have benefited greatly in acquisition of better skills and knowledge for imparting knowledge as a result of Tetfund intervention in LASU. This implies that objective of Tetfund intervention in Nigerian university goes beyond provision of physical plants but also improvement of human resources. This finding is incongruent with the submission of [12] that most universities accessed Tetfund funding for trainings, seminars and workshops and that overseas trainings, seminars and workshops benefit in no small way for the advancement of academic staff as well as aiding them for promotions and elevations in the Universities. The finding also revealed the significant role of Tetfund intervention on research and academic growth in LASU. Lecturers require research for promotion from a cadre to another, this is capital intensive, and the need for Tetfund in this direction is a boost to actualize their dream. This result is consistent with the opinion of [7] that lecturers are the priority in Tetfund's intervention policy, because they drive communication and knowledge in the sector. However, the fourth place of the lecturers in LASU accessibility and utilization of Tetfund intervention leaves much to be desired because one is for the government to provide a succor policy to assist the lecturers' accessibility that is another bottleneck. The finding shows element of lecturers' dissatisfaction about the accessibility of the fund. This is pointing to the opinion of [20] that the bulk of university research has been self-funded by graduate students, staff-in-training and academic staff, and over 80 per cent has been from salaries and parents.
More so, the finding showed that Tetfund intervention in Lagos State University for academic staff capacity building was major priority. Empowerment of lecturers in the university is not controversial owing to the role expected them in the national development. This finding is in line with the view of [18] that Tetfund provides funds to all federal and state-owned tertiary institutions on areas such as research, training, conferences, and staff development. In addition, the finding revealed the significant role of Tetfund intervention in transforming teaching and learning positively through academic staff development programmes in LASU.This also attests to the submission of (2009 [13][14][15][16] that every economy should invest in research and knowledge generation through human capital development. The positions of findings on positive impact of Tetfund intervention on academic staff performance and disbursement of Tetfund intervention to lecturers for research and better performance in LASU respectively indicate low implementation of Tetfund to lecturers on the other hands. This buttresses report of [22] about the former National Universities Commission (NUC) executive secretary information that Government since independence has not made it a priority of allocating substantial funds for research in the country's universities. The key thing is allocation of substantial budget for educational Tetfund intervention. This supports the view of [11] that despite the TETFund intervention, tertiary institutions in Nigeria still lack funds necessary to upgrade the institutions to international standard.

CONCLUSION
Based on the findings, it was concluded that Tetfund intervention towards quality transformation of academic staff Lagos State University was positive in the sense that Tetfund intervention has contributed majorly on provision of infrastructure for effective teaching and learning in LASU. In addition, capacity building of academic staff of Lagos State University was the major focus of Tetfund intervention. Arising from 160 the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made to enhance optimum performance of Tetfund interventions in tertiary institutions in Nigeria: To make it easier for institutions to fully access approved TETFUND. There is the need to reduce or eliminate the level of bureaucratic bottlenecks often associated with accessing approved funds. Having noted that University education is cost-effective, donor agencies and philanthropic individuals and groups, should assist government in funding tertiary education in the country. To improve the volume of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in Nigerian, tertiary education institutions should embark on business ventures. Good governance and transparency on the part of the TETFUND and beneficiary institution's management should form the hallmark of the Funds Operations to ensure accessibility and result-oriented utilization of accessed funds.