The Government of The Gambia has announced plans to send officials to Nigeria to understudy the operations of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, as the West African nation seeks to strengthen its newly established tertiary education financing mechanism.

The Gambian Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Prof. Pierre Gomez, disclosed this on Monday when he led a delegation to the TETFund headquarters in Abuja for a meeting with the Fund's Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono.

Gomez said The Gambia had established the Tertiary and Higher Education Trust Fund, modelled after Nigeria's TETFund, and that the proposed study tour would enable its officials to learn directly from TETFund's experience in financing tertiary education, research, infrastructure and capacity development.

According to him, Gambian authorities had followed TETFund's activities and achievements through its website, social media platforms and other media channels, a development that prompted the country to adopt a similar intervention model for its higher education system.

He stressed the importance of collaboration between both institutions, particularly in research and capacity development, noting that such cooperation would also strengthen the broader bilateral relationship between Nigeria and The Gambia.

Gomez was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Isatou Auber; the Deputy Permanent Secretary, Dr Samba Sowe; and the Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ndey Anta Taal.

Responding, Echono welcomed the delegation and outlined TETFund's evolution from the Education Trust Fund, established in 1993, into the country's foremost intervention agency for public tertiary institutions under the 2011 Act. He said the agency emerged from the funding crisis that confronted Nigeria's tertiary education sector more than three decades ago, necessitating the creation of a dedicated alternative funding source for public higher institutions.

Echono said TETFund's interventions were designed to address critical needs across beneficiary institutions, covering infrastructure, instructional materials and equipment, research and publications, and academic staff training and development.

The planned study tour comes as The Gambia works to strengthen financing and institutional development across its tertiary education and technical and vocational education and training system.