The Federal Government yesterday disclosed that there billions of naira outstanding in the matching grants to states because they have not provided their counterpart funds. Also, many tertiary institutions have not fully accessed their Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) because of challenges of capacity in project implementation.

The Supervising Minister, Chief Ezenwo Wike who disclosed this at the Stakeholders Town Hall meeting on TETFund Intervention for the South West geo-political zone held at the University of Ibadan on Thursday, disclosed that between 2010 and 2013 federal government made available to states N125 billion as matching grant to support the development of infrastructures and resources in basis education, saying that this was part of the other interventions through agencies.

In addition, he disclosed that government had supported states in the area of teacher training with each state receiving N170 million to enhance the professional development of teachers.

Other Federal Government intervention such as Almajaris Education Programme, the Supervising Minister said were addressing the challenge of the large number of out-of-school children, adding that a total of 125 day and boarding schools have been constructed under the programme across the country.

According to him, the Federal Government recognises the importance of tertiary education in driving development objectives and enhancing global competitiveness. He said in 2013 budgetary allocations to federal tertiary institutions stood at N336 billion while Tertiary Education Trust Fund provided complimentary financial support to tertiary institutions.

He added that the number of institutions funded by TETFund increased from 164 to 179 the same year. He said support to each polytechnic had increased from N240 million to N443 million in 2013 while that Colleges of Education increased from N190 million each in N390 million in 2013.

While urging Nigerians to appreciate the changing face of education, he noted that in a lot of instances, the challenge was not that availability of funds but in the efficient and timely intervention