The story is on the third page of today's (19th june) guardian newspaper. I'm trying to get a link to the story.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=115056

From Thisday Newspaper. Let's see how this will help will reduce the level or even eliminate discrimination. Hope it works out well

I've never heard of such. Do Universities award bachelor Of technology degrees?

I know some universities around me award B Tech for their science laboratory programmes.

Seun:

I've never heard of such. Do Universities award bachelor Of technology degrees?

Most universities of Technology(if not all) in Nigeria award BTech Degrees in all their courses even if it is geography, economics, accounting, mathematics, biochemistry, chemistry, microbiology etc; but Engineering courses still remain BEng.

No matter how long a mangroove tree stays in a swamp it cannot turn to a crocodile
Poly and Uni graduates can and will never be the same.
some poly is entered without even any xternal exams like PolyJamb and with 4 credits in some occasions with little or just few qualified lecturers.
cant be the same even in UK a polly graduate cannot go straight 4 MSC unlike a Uni graduate with 2.2

abdurrazaq:

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=115056

From Thisday Newspaper. Let's see how this will help will reduce the level or even eliminate discrimination. Hope it works out well

The school that awarded the B.Tech degree will still be in the CV. This will not prove to be a solution for discrimination.

Dynast:

No matter how long a mangroove tree stays in a swamp it cannot turn to a crocodile
Poly and Uni graduates can and will never be the same.
some poly is entered without even any xternal exams like PolyJamb and with 4 credits in some occasions with little or just few qualified lecturers.
can't be the same even in UK a polly graduate cannot go straight 4 MSC unlike a Uni graduate with 2.2

For your information, quite a lot of the universities in the UK today were formerly polytechnics, so if naija decides to adopt same policy whats the biggie.?

Dynast:

No matter how long a mangroove tree stays in a swamp it cannot turn to a crocodile
Poly and Uni graduates can and will never be the same.
some poly is entered without even any xternal exams like PolyJamb and with 4 credits in some occasions with little or just few qualified lecturers.
can't be the same even in UK a polly graduate cannot go straight 4 MSC unlike a Uni graduate with 2.2

i read somewhere that they are revamping the entry requirements for polytechnics

I just hope they will not discriminate BTech Degrees from polytechnics sha. What i feel is the major problem in Nigeria is the school (Poly) that awards the HND certificate that people have failed to recognise and not the HND certificate, therefore i'm afraid the society might still look down at BTech from polytechnics the same way they look down at the HND certificate.

A better solution to me is for polyechnics to run MTech, Msc and PhD programs so as to allow HND/BTech graduates to progress academically.

I think its a great idea.

alex406:

I think its a great idea.

Yes it's a great idea. But my question is will polytechnic BTech graduates be admitted directly to do MTech and MSc in the university?? Will polytechnics be running their own MTech/Msc and PhD programs??

there's nothin wrong wit B-TECH cos i graduated wit it
what we shd b talkin abt is DISCRIMINATION of poly degrees

@eminemkayc

COME, MAKE THEM NO TRY AM OH!! WHICH KIN NONSENSE BE THAT? SEE, AM A CIVIL ENGINEER AND BY GOD'S GRACE PRIVILEGED TO GRADUATE WITH A FIRST CLASS FROM ONE OF NAIJA'S FORMOST INSTITUTIONS. SO LET ME EDUCATE WHO EVER WANTS TO LISTEN A BIT,  A TECHNOLOGIST IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM AN ENGINEER (in this context), WHILE DURING THE LATTER'S TRAINING IN THE INSTITUTION, HE ACQUIRES 70 - 75% ENGINEERING DESIGN AND OTHER GERMANE KNOWLEDGE  WHILE THE REMAINDER IS LEFT FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES. AS A COMPLEMENT TO THIS, DURING HIS TRAINING, A MAXIMUM OF 6MONTHS IS LEFT OUT FOR HIS INDUSTRIAL EXPIERIENCE PROGRAM WHILE THE TECHNOLOGIST DOES THE SAME FOR ONE YEAR. IN THE REAL SENSE OF IT, IN THE EVENT  OF A PROBLEM, AN ENGINEER IS EXPECTED TO CARRY OUT THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN BECAUSE OF HIS TRAINING BUT A TECHNOLOGIST CANNOT DO THE SAME SINCE HE IS NOT TRAINED TO DO SO. YEAH, HE MIGHT CLAIM HE'S GOT THE KNOWLEDGE, BLA BLA BLA, BUT THATS FALSE. AM SAYING THIS FROM EXPIERIENCE COS I WORK IN THE OIL INDUSTRY AS A DESIGN ENGINEER AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE IT WOULD CREATE CONFUSION IN THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD AND ONLY RIDICULE THE TWO DEGREES AS CHARLATANS WOULD BE ON THE PRAWL CLAIMING TO BE WHAT THEY ARE NOT WHICH IN TURN WOULD RESULT TO A NEW TYPE OF CORRUPTION ,  GOD HELP NAIJA   

I'm very suprised at what you wrote; read the publication very well  http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=115056  it is in there that the curriculum will change; if you are very confident of your civil engineering certificate while not enter the same hot sit with someone awarded the BTech; if you win so be it or are you scared of losing your Lucrative oil job to a better Btech candidate
‘‘Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others’’ 1 Cor 10:24

@All
If this new proposal finally sails through, what now happens to those already with the HND certificate. Please contribute

@eminemkayc, I think the old HND certificates awarded will remain the same.
The problem is not with the name of the qualification, it's the problem of which school the qualification was obtained from. Let UNILAG (and other in her class) issue HND as their certificate they, will still be recognise more than other institution.

If you no go school, dem go call you illiterate, if you go, dem go say your own na HND. God help us.

abdurrazaq:

@eminemkayc, I think the old HND certificates awarded will remain the same.
The problem is not with the name of the qualification, it's the problem of which school the qualification was obtained from. Let UNILAG (and other in her class) issue HND as their certificate they, will still be recognise more than other institution.

If you no go school, them go call you illiterate, if you go, them go say your own na HND. God help us.

That's it o my brother. If Universities were to award HND certificates to their graduates no body will discriminate them. I think this discrimination has more to do with where the certificate was obtained from (the name of the institution) than the certificate itself.

BTech obtained from polytechnics i'm afraid may face discrimination like the HND certificate. May God help Nigeria.

BSc graduates are considered half baked; what should they call poly graduates? The educational system in the country is not attracting the right amount of investment. Whether the poly's award BTech, MTech or Phd and the universities BSc, it does not change the quality of research/teaching in Nigeria's public universities/polytechnics and the quality of graduates they produce.
Money is the answer. If you cloth a dead man with the most beautiful cloth, it does not bring him to life, he needs the breath of life. If you make polys attractive externally and don't give them adequate funding they will still be discriminated against.

Also polys cannot be equal to universities. Their curriculum are different. There is a reason they developed the name polytechnic and university.

Polytechnic - An educational institute that teaches applied arts and sciences rather than academic subjects; that teaches applied arts and sciences rather than academic subjects
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polytechnic

University - Institution of higher education (typically accepting students from the age of about 17 or 18, depending on country, but in some cases able to take younger students in exceptional cases) where subjects are studied and researched in depth and degrees are offered
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/university

Preference will still be given to university BA, BEd, BSc and BTech Degrees over polytechnic BTech Degree that's what i know; except if it's not Nigeria.

Employment adverts will soon start reading " A university Degree required", which will automatically disqualify polytechnic BTech Degree holders just as it's been done to polytechnic HND holders.

A lot of things need to be put in place before this discrimination can stop.

I'm very suprised at what you wrote; read the publication very well http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=115056 it is in there that the curriculum will change; if you are very confident of your civil engineering certificate while not enter the same hot sit with someone awarded the BTech; if you win so be it or are you scared of losing your Lucrative oil job to a better Btech candidate
‘‘Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others’’ 1 Cor 10:24

FOR UR USEFUL INFORMATION IV SAT WITH DIFFERENT HOT HEADS AND HAVE SAILED THROUGH IN THE PAST. NOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR U, I AM INVOLVED WITH SERIOUS RESEARCH NOW! ONLY TIME WILL TELL BEFORE YOU GET TO HEAR MY NAME! AM NOT JOKING ABOUT THIS. PROVERBS 18 SAYS " THE GIFT OF A MAN MAKETH A WAY FOR HIM" I REST MY STATEMENTS HERE (CLICK ON MY NAME FOR MORE INFORMATION)

what is the diff btw a poly and a university graduate?To me its all bullshit if i may say.To all polytechnic graduates dont play pranks on yourselves,ok .what the university is trying to make out of you if inferiority complex by letting you believe they are superior than you do.Its high time you all wake up from your slumber,the way a man think so he be,if the make you belive you are a fool and you belive them so be it.This is 20th century its an era where your certificate doesnt matter but what you can do for your country.Where is even the job self,let universities graduate continue there superiority by walking from ikorodu to the end of Apapa seeking for job that is not there and thinking they are superior.To me i am a graduate of The Federal Polytechnic,Ado ekiti ,HND Degree o.I choose to be independent since my graduation 2000 ,i choose not to work for no body and since then i am more than confortable in term of cash in flow and no BSC holder can do yanga when the money don they there.so its left to you if you allow the so called BSC holder to ride you as horse as far as am concern ,omo No long thing,most university grauates are priviledge to go university if some polytechnic graduates were given a chance they we be better off and even have a better result than there conterperts but that era don go this one na 20th century no be 19th century we white colar job boku for town now na wetin you fit do with you mind and hand.PROUDLY POLYTE

Some of our write up before the change:

Please read then comment;

Renaming HND as B.Tech for Professional Technologist (Engineering)
(COREN Engineering Technologists Certificate is as useless as the polytechnics)
Background
We are happy that COREN want to put the house in good order now since the event of renaming HND as TECHNOLOGIST. It will be recalled then when things became critical, Engr. Inuwa the then president of COREN using his influence with the Government, and amending Decree 55 of 1970, with Degree 27 of 1992 finally renaming HND as Engineering Technologist with abbreviation Engn.Tech. (That Britain used for Technician.) This abbreviation without stamp of office made our members refuse to register. If Britain that brought the polytechnic could name their technologists then as Incorporated Engineers, what is the problem then in Nigeria? NATE was involved in the amendment at the beginning, COREN agreed then to the use of Technological Engineers like the Incorporated Engineers of UK while our role can still be that of Technologist, in fact NATE suggested COREN'S new name "Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) as a way to meet the desire of the HND holders. Several other issues were yet unresolved before the change of decree. Then we were not happy, the amendments of the decree, which we claimed, do not satisfy our needs created this present situation of lack of interest. www.corenng.org In all the 26 members only one sit for the HND Technologist; this was not because of population of Technologist in the register now as claimed by some council member but it was then a deliberate act of oppression to silence the Technologist group

Nigerian Association of Technological Engineers then is the today NISET, NATE and NAEC. We in NATE always opposed the designation as Engineering Technologist but for separation of Identity Technological Engineers were preferred.
The civil service only recognized Technical officer and Higher Technical Officers this are technician grade. As the Government document did not recognize Engineering Technologists, Technician or Craftsmen. All what is the document are Mechanics, Technical officers and Engineers. This Engineering Technologists is still strange is a way to silence the practical group while the theoretical group showing the way. To the civil service, Technologists cannot go any further, and this places some kind of disadvantage not only on the HND holders and COREN but on the country as well.

HND holders ordinarily should have much more contributed to our development and we feel this should be reviewed inline with the Obasanjo regime directive on this policy. It should be noted that HND holders studied in polytechnics not as a result of academic incompetence, but owing largely to frustration (resulting from continued delay in securing university admission) and sometimes on financial grounds. In fact, HND holders are not in any way inferior to university degree holders. (At the primary and secondary school levels, the same lessons are taught, and the same examinations are set for them.) Why pegging HND holders progress? Even in the university and at the polytechnics, there is an institutional organ called the congregation or convokes, to be a member of the congregation, you should be a graduate of university (which is not a right of Polytechnics graduate) and by the interpretation of the graduate, and you have to be a degree holder. Because of that in the appointment of Bursars even with ICAN, or registrar of regulatory body, say the Engineering personnel had some Masters or PhD with HND they are still not good enough, still regarded as inferior, cannot be place in the position. It is worst if you have a member of NSE in the panel, he can still stomach the presence of a mechanic than technologist, COREN Engineering Technologists Certificate is as useless as the polytechnics, Any polytechnic or institution that try to elevates the polytechnic graduate is no more qualified to be a member of the congregation.

The discriminations about the graduates of universities and polytechnics are becoming something that one has to sleep over day and night. Universities are types of institutions acceptable in Nigeria; majority of those in the university today once had National Diploma or HND from the polytechnic. It is not possible to compare the output in academics (credit load) in the polytechnics to the university. Types of crowd in lecture hall in the university, (700 or more students) encouraging examination malpractices is there possibility that all the students in that lecture got the lecturers message? Compare this to the Polytechnic's where we have about 20 to 50 in a lecture hall?

The HND men still want a degree, why? Our society listens only to what people say without looking at the merit.  The degree holders job is no longer available in Nigeria, as available spaces has been reserved for some class. HND holders can move if having both the skill and additional qualifications, PGD, Masters etc. why should him allow COREN to hold him down, get to Banks or computer outfit you meet our HND men there leaving the engineering for only the degree holders. So HND is gradually fading out in Nigeria as it has been made to be inferior to university degrees. This is because it takes only 2 years to get HND and 3 years to get a Bsc in UK. But the Nigeria HND is a five years (4 academic years and 1 year industrial training). Taking a look at the course curriculum for HND programs, the credit hours are equal or greater than that of so many degree programs in Nigeria. Every ICAN examination conducted every year; HND graduates perform brilliantly than their Bsc. counterpart.   University education is met to provide the nation with skill managerial position and decision making while the polytechnic education met to provide highly skill technological man power for the nation, As at today, BTEC HND, which is obtained in Britain could be liken to Nigeria ND, is not an equivalent of BSc. Why then the problem of discrimination between Theoretical Professionals (Bsc) and Technological Professionals (HND)?

This act frustrated parents who do not have the ability to send their Children to University as well as the HND holder. Not Every one can pass through University at the same time. HND was just then an alternative. The Authority then does not have option but to change and upgrade HND to B.Tech, and the Polytechnics to University. Former president Obasanjo’s regime already made pronouncements that the HND certificate will remain a legal tender in Nigeria and holders of such certificate will continue to be recognized as the equivalent of first-degree holders without discriminatory remunerations and limit to progression in the work place. Why should we now register as Technologists that bring no changes to our life when we can perform better than the degree holder in technological trades? We can as well be call a Degree holder? We will no longer need polytechnics again; let everybody go to university and get any degree he/she wants. Why should polytechnics exist in Nigeria when they are of no significance?

Pg 6 section 4.0 VIEWS & COMMENTS OF FG ON THE COMMISSION FOR THE REVIEW OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA 1992.
Says, "Polytechnic should concentrate on the training of middle level manpower for direct employment in industry as a support for university high level manpower. The fact that some other countries provide the facility for the award of degrees not reason for Nigeria to review the polytechnic program "

This stand must change because the polytechnic then was only for NATIONAL DIPLOMA. Why did the FG brought HND?

Traditional engineering programs in Nigeria have not supported applied engineering hence the need for the agitations for the creation of a registered professional engineering technologist that has authority. This is based on the fact that engineering technologists are involved in the practice of engineering as defined by law.

No DIPLOMA in America, and University of LONDON today still issue DIPLOMA as a matter of pride.

First, a gap has developed between the registered engineer and the tradesman/engineering support staff. Next, the gap involves the practice of engineering as typically defined by COREN this gap needs to be filled with a registered engineering technologist by virtue of the job requirements and the training received by engineering technologists. The bridge between engineering activity and implementation activity is now filled with a mixture of engineers and technology-oriented assistants like the FTC that is the current trend in engineering in Nigeria.
Engineering are in two branches, engineering science and applied engineering. While the Polytechnics were trained in handling of applied engineering The University was involved in engineering science. This has led to increased expense for industry having to complete the practical portion of the training or to the expense of mistakes made by technology graduates in positions that they are not trained for.