NOUN VC Professor Uduma Oji Uduma Urges TETFund to Review Funding Model for Open Distance Learning

NOUN VC Prof. Uduma Oji Uduma has urged TETFund to adopt a funding model that reflects the university’s 120+ study centres and over 150,000 students.

Uduma made the appeal while receiving members of the Board of Trustees of TETFund during a familiarisation visit to beneficiary institutions in the North-Central zone.

The Vice-Chancellor said the funding needs of NOUN differed in significant ways from those of conventional universities because of its nationwide study-centre network and the large number of students it serves through the Open and Distance Learning model.

According to him, NOUN currently operates more than 120 study centres across Nigeria and has over 150,000 active students, creating substantial demands for infrastructure, learning resources, digital facilities and other forms of institutional support.

He also disclosed that more than 500 inmates were currently benefiting from free study scholarships provided through the university, further expanding NOUN’s role in widening access to higher education.

Uduma said these responsibilities had placed considerable financial and infrastructural demands on the institution, making it necessary for TETFund to reconsider the existing funding template when determining interventions for NOUN.

He explained that the university’s mandate was to remove geographical, financial and other barriers to tertiary education by providing quality and cost-effective education through Open and Distance Learning.

The Vice-Chancellor noted that unlike conventional institutions where students are concentrated on one main campus, NOUN’s operations required resources to be distributed across a large network of study centres serving learners in different parts of the country.

He therefore appealed to TETFund to recognise this structure when allocating intervention resources to the institution.

The request is particularly significant as Nigeria continues to seek ways of expanding access to higher education amid growing demand for university places. Open and distance learning provides an alternative for students who may be unable to participate in conventional full-time university education because of location, employment, family responsibilities or other circumstances.

NOUN’s nationwide structure also enables students to access university education without necessarily relocating to the institution’s headquarters.

Uduma commended TETFund for its contributions to the development of tertiary education in Nigeria, particularly through infrastructure and other interventions that have supported universities and other higher institutions.

He said the Fund had played an important role in sustaining tertiary institutions and improving their capacity to provide education to Nigerians.

“Sometimes I wonder what tertiary education in the country would be without the intervention of TETFund,” he said, adding that some of NOUN’s achievements across its more than 120 study centres would not have been possible without the Fund’s interventions.

The Vice-Chancellor maintained that greater consideration of NOUN’s operational realities would enable the university to expand and improve facilities for its growing student population.

The appeal also places emphasis on the need for funding models to evolve alongside changes in the structure of higher education. As Nigerian universities increasingly adopt digital learning, blended education and other technology-supported approaches, institutions operating outside the traditional residential university model may require different forms of infrastructure and financial intervention.

For NOUN, such support would potentially strengthen facilities across its study-centre network, improve learning resources and enhance the university’s ability to serve students spread across the country.

The engagement between the university and TETFund consequently provides an opportunity for both institutions to examine how intervention programmes can better respond to the different models through which tertiary education is delivered in Nigeria.

Uduma’s appeal ultimately centres on the need for an intervention framework that recognises the distinctive role of open and distance learning in widening access to university education.

With more than 150,000 active students, over 120 study centres and specialised programmes supporting underserved groups, including inmates, NOUN is seeking a funding approach that reflects the scale and geographical spread of its educational responsibilities.