NBTE scribe seeks reforms to end discrimination against HND holders
By Emmanuel Edukugho
Posted to the Web: Thursday, April 28, 2005



The dichotomy between polytechnic and university education seems irritating to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) as its executive secretary calls for reforms to address the discrimination against HND holders.

At an interview, the NBTE scribe, Dr Nuhu A. Yakubu blamed the attitude of Nigerians for the major problems confronting technological education in the country.
“We at NBTE are honest, dedicated, endeavour to narrow ourselves to a corner, interest of Nigeria. A major challenge to the academic community.”

He called for sweeping education reforms that would bring about parity and remove the differences between Higher National Diploma (HND) and B.Sc degree.
“From vocational to technical, to university, no need for barriers,” Nuhu Yakubu advocated.
Three areas were identified by him as the focus for NBTE.

These are:
* Training,
* Curricular review
* Meeting of stakeholders
The executive secretary promised continued delivery by NBTE in accordance with its mandate.
“The National Diploma Programmes produce bulk of our technological manpower, particularly middle level manpower. There is need to redesign the national diploma to 3 years. From national diploma to higher national diploma without barrier,” he demanded.
According to him, the polytechnics have adequate facilities to admit more students than what they are having.

“About 1 million candidates sit for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) university entrance examinations. Polytechnics have facilities to get the excess ones. How do we ensure our youths come to technical education?”

He added that opportunities should be opened up for self-development which technical education can properly provide for the young people of this country.
On the national conference now taking place in Abuja, Yakubu expressed the feeling that it afforded opportunity for all Nigerians to talk.

“People will no longer see themselves from narrow perspectives. Youths, old, women are all there.
Diversity will be strengthened, get our nation from being potential to the real thing, involving the entire country, and examine our value system.”
He advised delegates to be patient, listen to each other’s point, and show concern that something must be done to salvage our nation.

“The conference is all about how to improve Nigeria. Therefore all hands must be on deck.”

When education is discussed at various fora the widespread discrimination and relegation of technical education in Nigeria rarely earns a mention. The regular issues dealt with include giving education a greater share of the national budget and the dichotomy in education between the North and the South, among others. These are undoubtedly important matters deserving as much attention and action as possible.

But we cannot also fail to recognise the dangers posed to Nigeria's progress by the national obsession with white-collar professions and vocations at the expense of the no-less-important technical education and skills acquisition aspect. This issue is gradually assuming alarming dimensions in the context of the increasing importance of technical know-how and technology in general in world development. The uncomfortable truth staring at us is that the modern world is technology-driven, with less premium on memo-pushing white-collar jobs that lure our people. It is therefore a matter of national urgency that steps are taken to realign our educational bearings to dovetail into the ongoing world-wide technological revolution.

The relegation of technical know-how in general manifests in many ways in Nigerian society. Parents want their children to become doctors and lawyers but rarely do they recommend engineers and technicians as role models for their kids. When you mention technical education, people think of nitty-gritty hard labour jobs, out in the sun in shorts and rolled up sleeves stained with oil and grease.

Virtually everyone dreams of posh office environments, with telephones, computers and air-conditioners. Everyone wants to become the "oga" in the MD's office who spins on a swivel-chair calling the shots without sweat. We have also witnessed the curious cadre of engineers who would rather not get into shorts and boots even when their jobs so demand. They too have contributed to the disdain faced by blue-collar professionals. All these could be ascribed to short-sighted sentiments of Nigerians from the early post independence days since there is growing evidence now that more Nigerians are coming to terms with the indispensability of technical know-how and technology even in everyday life. The winds of change in the economy of Nigeria since independence have left the white-collar heaven in desperation and frustration after many bouts of sudden retrenchments, retirements and rationalisations. To the bitter surprise of the white-collar champions, it is the technicians and the engineers who are better equipped to weather the storm of sudden loss of employment. It is the technicians and the engineers who can easily adjust to live on their "hand-work" or skills in various fields of human and socio-economic endeavour. The "ogas" and the bureaucratic managers are like fish out of water once their services are no longer required as is more often the trend these days in the bureaucracy. In the larger world of the private non-formal job market, you are better off being a retired but trained and competent technician than being a retired administrative officer. This reality is now a survival song in the Nigerian society.

More disturbing than these episodes are the numerous instances of a sort of institutionalised relegation of technical education and its products in government policies. For example, there has been a deliberate policy of placing polytechnics in a subordinate position to universities both in the level of qualifications they can award and also the placement of their graduates in the salary structure of the civil services. The demand by polytechnics and their graduates that their institutions be empowered to award first and higher degrees has been long running against a brick wall. Polytechnics are the major vehicles for technological development charged with responsibility of providing training in technology, applied science and other fields of applied learning relevant to the development needs of the country. Yet both staff and students of the polytechnics have been complaining of anxiety and frustration over certain policies such as the lack of opportunities for graduates of polytechnics to progress beyond the HND and the limits to career progression of HND graduates in the public service. Other adverse policies include discriminatory recognition of HND holders in entry into the professions, especially engineering and the general perception of HND graduates as being inferior and of lower social status to the degree holders. What we have is an arrangement whereby the university is regarded as the apex of the system of higher education even though there are many programmes which are crucial to the economy that are not offered by any of our universities and yet require qualified professionals. This artificial restriction of the polytechnics to produce technicians, technologists and sub-professionals is clearly not in the interest of the cardinal principles of Nigeria as a developing country contained in the Second National Development Plan. Such an anomalous system was long ago discarded by the United Kingdom, from where the idea of Polytechnics was borrowed, and many other developed nations as a model for higher education. In the developed countries and some progressive developing ones too, provision of higher education is based on the plural or binary system whereby this responsibility is shared by universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, allowing polytechnics to offer their own degrees and even to use the term "university" against their names.

The rationale for adopting the binary system includes the fact that an hierarchy with the universities at the apex inevitably depresses and degrades morale and standards in the non-university sector which is why no developed country rose from a culture of down-grading its non-university professional and technical sector. It has also been recognised that the demand for vocational, professional and industrial-based courses requires a separate sector and there is need for a substantial part of the higher education system to be under social control and directly responsible to social needs. Certainly no nation that downgrades its non-university professional and technical sector in the face of great need for vocational, professional and industrial training can succeed in achieving substantial industrialisation. Another area of concern is the placement of career limitations on polytechnic academic staff to the advantage of their university counterparts such as the policy of limiting polytechnic academic staff to HATISS 14 salary scale when university academic staff can rise all the way to the peak of HATISS 15. As arms of tertiary education in their own right, staff of polytechnics have demanded the removal of HATISS 14 bar because the nature of their duties are similar to those of university staff. In 1988, the Federal Government approved that the polytechnics and colleges of education staff should be on the Unified Salary System (USS). Later, the Longe Commission recommended parity in the treatment of staff in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Strangely, during implementation, this aspect was not addressed leading to incessant agitation and industrial disputes in the institutions. Justice Anya's committee report later endorsed the issue of parity under the USS and the removal of the ceiling placed on progression of polytechnic staff on the USS system, so that qualified staff of the polytechnics can rise up to USS 15. There are also differences in the academic allowances paid to staff of polytechnics compared to staff in universities as well as in retirement ages of academic staff of tertiary institutions. All these discriminatory polices and practices result in brain drain from polytechnics to universities, entrenchment of undeserved inferior or subordinate status on technological and professional education, dwindling productivity and motivation among academic staff of polytechnics and act as a disincentive to good candidates for pursuing technological and professional education. Correcting these anomalies will bring about greater recognition of the worth of polytechnic academic staff as well as improved remuneration to motivate them more and enhance the status of technological education in the country.

It is pertinent to illustrate the-deplorable scenario surrounding technological education in Nigeria where there are principals of secondary schools who are now on GL 16, which is simply unattainable in any of the 3 largest federal polytechnics in Kaduna, Yaba and Auchi, with a combined students population of nearly 50,000 students and more than 6,000 staff. Thus, registrars, bursars and librarians in polytechnics cannot earn more than their deputies in universities. What is more, the overhead expenditure allocation for the largest polytechnic in Kaduna for instance is only a fraction higher than that of the smallest university. Yet, we are not unaware as a nation of the technological revolution literally sweeping the world off its feet and the implied critical need for higher level technical education. Development in the modern world is technology based and we need to judge the Nigerian graduates from the polytechnic sector on performance rather than some preconceived sentimental biases. The university graduates and the polytechnic graduates are actually equal but different, each having attributes and relevance vital to the progress and development of the country. We need to shake off the colonial legacy of pre-eminence of social sciences that suited the imperial administrative objectives of the colonialists, so that we can begin to translate independence into a developmental reality. After all even the European domains of the colonialists today place a higher premium on technical know-how and skills acquisition than on theoretical academic prowess. Our youths have got the message as there is a marked increase in the number of qualified candidates seeking admission into polytechnics in recent years most of whom cannot get first-time admission due to inadequacies. This reflects a burning desire to be technically learned in realisation of the practical advantage both for formal employment and self-employment in a technology-driven developing world. It is the polytechnic graduates who constitute a majority of the factory technicians working for Peugeot Automobile assembly plant in Kaduna for example while the Kaduna Polytechnic boasts of more equipment-and facilities for delicate technical processes and investigations than most Nigerian universities. If these remarkable developments are being recorded despite the manifest relegation of technical education, then we should expect dramatic breakthroughs when the equation is finally balanced to give blue-collar professions white-collar prestige.(Gambo writes)

dominobaby:

legs link=topic=134.msg6543#msg6543 date=1119274922:

However I need to ask one question how many poly graduates made up their minds not to bother writing Uni JAMB and went straight on to write only POLYJAMB exam? Simply put, did you attend a poly as of first choice?

IAH:

I think Polytechnics are for people who could not enter Uni because of their low grades, the people with higher grades in Polytechnics usually take Direct Entry into Uni after their OND. The others continue with the HND. I would say the percentage of really smart students in Polytechnics doing HND must be like 1%, and such students should be asked; "What are you still doing in Poly?" A big apology to whoever feels offended by this post but it is my opinion, isn't it?
Conclusion: Poly is never a first choice for any student or his/her parent. So why do people end up there and FINISH there?

Most polytechnic graduates did not get in there because they did have complete results or iot was their first choice. Many atimes it is because after several attempts of UME to no avail, they decided to try out the polytechnics, and even after attempting a Direct Entry, they still do not find it easy to get in.
I bet you wouldn't want to attempt one exam several times, you surely would get fed up.

Yes, because we can not afford to cheat or buy JAMB or WASC papers.

Gray Longe Commission described polytechnic products as support staff, when it recommended that "polytechnics should concentrate on the training of middle-level manpower (technicians and technologists) for direct employment in industry as a support for high level manpower", adding that "the fact that some other countries provide the facility for the award of first and higher degrees in their polytechnics/colleges of advanced technology in the light of their manpower needs is not a good enough reason for reviewing the programmes available in the polytechnics in Nigeria"."In this sense, it is implied that polytechnic graduates are forever consigned to middle-level manpower status in their careers and professions. The question then is what is really middle level manpower? . When could polytechnic graduates drop the toga of middle-level manpower? Is it after switching over to the university to do a degree; If the holder of a Bachelor's degree is not; classified as Middle-level Manpower, is it right to classify an HND holder as Middle-level?"

Happily, these issues were addressed during the summit. "Middle level manpower" is gone for good, at least on paper. The greater task for every stakeholder is to erase same from our minds. We hardly have a choice if we believe like UNESCO that " in the future, the backbone of robust social and economic development in a nation will be the technical profession."

The same Gray Longe Commission on Higher Education advocated that for a balanced development of the country by the year 2000, for every student in the university system there should be four in the polytechnics and colleges of education. In the year 2002, the combined enrolment in polytechnics, and colleges of education of a little over 300,000 (polytechnics - 200,000 and colleges of education - 100,000) is still far below the total university enrolment of over 400,000. This is despite the fact that there are now 50 polytechnics, and 65 colleges of education, compared to 42 universities in the country. The effect of these disparities on National Manpower Development, is that there are more system designers than implementers.

The bottom line is that both depend on each other and none is superior to the other.

What is "HND Holder" up to with all these postings on HND, are you the only HND holder in the forum?  Eh wetin be your own sef?

IAH:

If you attempt one exam several times and you still don't pass, then you must be.....hmmmmm I won't talk!

IAH it does not follow eaxctly as if one is so hmmmmm........ but then what i am trying to butress is that at most times people get high scores but not high enough to admit them in, i hope you get what i mean.


I know of a brilliant and intelligent guy who cleared his waec in one sitting but the UME gave him a tough time, he then opted for a diploma course (though expensive)!

@dominobaby, good point!

Self esteem does not mean seeing yourself as the greatest person in the world.
It's not the same as being conceited.
Healthy self esteem means liking yourself,as HND holder for the most part, as you are.
You can have OK self esteem and still have occasional bouts of self doubt.
How you feel about yourself depends on who you compare yourself with.
Healthy self esteem means thinking as highly of yourself as you think of your peers.
Excessive self esteem = being over confident or complacent as Bsc holders.
OK self esteem is compatible with humility.
Humility is not the same as self-effacement.
The right balance should place you mid-way between grandiosity and self-effacement.
To maintain healthy self esteem:
Forgive yourself for your mistakes you made on HND holders.
Celebrate your strengths and achievements.
We are so used to negative feedback that we are more aware of our weaknesses.
Set achievable targets and get regular feedback.
Change the way you talk to yourself - stop putting yourself down.
Be sure that you are not judging yourself against unreasonable standards.
Beating yourself for your weaknesses is self-defeating

Our soceity is no t the type that cares about se

objibb:


Self esteem does not mean seeing yourself as the greatest person in the world.
It's not the same as being conceited.
Healthy self esteem means liking yourself,as HND holder for the most part,

Hnd holders have all what Bsc had., Motor cars, houses name it. why some Bsc holders are just looking for what to eat.

HND HOLDER:


Hnd holders have all what Bsc had., Motor cars, houses name it. why some Bsc holders are just looking for what to eat.

Hum i didnt know that certificates, determines whether you become rich or poor. .

Hum i didnt know that certificates, determines whether you become rich or poor.

Please tell them...the richest people in the world today have no stinking degrees.

Isaac Newton and co do not have DEGREES either, then why the discriminations?

IAH:

Hum i didnt know that certificates, determines whether you become rich or poor.

Please tell them...the richest people in the world today have no stinking degrees.

its not the certificate or course that matters but what you make of it. Of course in our society the certificates have an inherent social value (thats why mothers-in-law will always discriminate against SSCE holders even if they speak english like britons)

kodewrita:

our society the certificates have an inherent social value (thats why mothers-in-law [/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][/color][color=#990000][color=#990000][/color]will always discriminate against SSCE holders even if they speak english like britons)

The result is single motherhood and Very higher rate of breaks in marriage , Simply because today's love refused to go blind, let Jss graduate marry Jss holder. Let HND marry HND holder let the poor marry the poor, Let Otunba child marry another Otunba family,at the end of the day we take the same exit.

Simple. Bachelors > Diploma. Chapter close.

kazey:

Simple. Bachelors > Diploma. Chapter close.

You are correct as per the equation

Bachelors>Diploma

Bachelors > or =Higher Diploma

Bachelors < Advance or post graduate Diploma

No basis
Do we have HND Medicine, No, HND LAW HND HISTORY etc
Only in tchnical and commercial areas.
Let Hnd holder be happy for they are the hope of tomorrow

Are u are double face man? OBJ and IBB My brother tell your friend not to go near HND in Nigeria for it is a stressful qualification.

HND HOLDER:

Are you are double face man? OBJ and IBB My brother tell your friend not to go near HND in Nigeria for it is a stressful qualification.

[move]Can we close all the polytechnics? [/move]
Ayozie Daniel Ogechukwu
It is now a criminal offence to be a polytechnic graduate in Nigeria, if in doubt ask the army of unemployed polytechnic graduates in the labour market. Nothing is as dehumanising and degrading as being asked to leave an interview venue, just because one spent five years or more years to acquire a diploma which is not worth a N30 toilet tissue. Do not take offence with this article. I am one of those unfortunate Nigerians who committed a “crime” by attending a polytechnic.
Our nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, in the past advocated a closure of our universities for one year so that a proper stocktaking would be done, and appropriate strategies implemented to bring back the lost glory of our ivory towers. I cannot agree less with our dear Wole Soyinka, only that I am of the view that all the polytechnics should be permanently closed and converted to secondary schools, and where possible upgraded to satellite campuses of most of our universities. The reason being that, they have lost their substance and glory due to neglect and poor funding.
I am a graduate of one of the best polytechnic in the country, the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, and I am proud to be one. But recent activities of private and public employers have compelled me to ask the government to close those glorified secondary schools (polytechnics) if we do not need them, and where their products are treated as inferior materials even where they are better, and without giving them the opportunity to prove their mettle.
As Mr. Olushola Adegbite mentioned recently in this article in one of the national dailies, entitled, Polytechnics and the award of degrees, the Nigerian educational sector was agog with joy in 2001, when the Federal Government signed the agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), empowering polytechnics to award degrees, as it is done in the United States and United Kingdom. In fact, in the UK, all polytechnics empowered to award degrees and postgraduate degrees, thereby attracting the highest calibre of academic and research staff. This is an environment where academic activity is dynamic, and progressive.
The original concept of the Polytechnic sector was to produce middle level manpower. But for over 40 years now, there had been no dynamic effort made to re-evaluate this policy. With pride one can mention some first generation polytechnics that have better facilities and academic staff than most universities in same courses, especially in Engineering, Management and Accounting. With pride again one is compelled to mention Yaba College of Technology, Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, Kaduna Polytechnic and Auchi Polytechnic. The performance of graduates of these institutes in both academic and professional examinations have been very remarkable. The author, polytechnic graduate, and a doctoral research student in a Nigerian university will share his experiences of how frustrating it can be when you flaunt a polytechnic certificate, that is not appreciated in the Nigerian environment. What would have ordinarily taken me few years to accomplish academically had taken me many years, because one is unfortunate to attend a polytechnic. With my dehumanising experiences, I am faced with the same dilemma as Mr. Adegbite and they are:
(a) Why is Nigeria, producing graduates that would be rejected in the labour market? (b) Why make brilliant and academically conscious Nigerians who have all it takes, to be discriminated and dehumanized against, simply because they attended polytechnics? (c) Why turn polytechnic graduates into second class and even third class citizens in the labour and educational sectors? The British whose academic system we all claim we are copying, have converted all their polytechnics to universities, especially when the higher national diploma became unfashionable in the academic and labour markets in the United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, we are still living in the past, using the 1940 policies in the 21st century computer ages. Were the polytechnics set up, just to act as feeders to the University system? Is there any academic law and policy which specifies the stagnancy of one sector (polytechnic) as against the vibrancy and dynamism of the other sector? Why are the polytechnic sector rejected in such a manner, as not to attract the highest calibre of academic staff? Why is the funding lopsided and even neglected? Why is it that research grants are not extended to it? These and many others are questions begging for answers.
The Minister of Education will write his name in gold, if he attends to the academic needs of polytechnics, in the same way he considers the needs of the universities. Is there no way Nigerians can have a polytechnic of equal standard to the UK’s Cranfield Institute of Technology, (now Cranfield University) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US?
Polytechnic graduates are noted for their very excellent performances in local and foreign professional examinations such as ICAN, CIBN, CIM (Lond), etc. With all these excellent results why the stagnancy in the academic operations of polytechnics?

•Ogechukwu wrote in from Abraka, Delta State.

Do you think this is the solution ?

Close down all the polytechnics

LOOK AT THE APPROVED SCHEDULE OF ENTRY QUALIFICATIONS INTO ENGINEERING CADRES
AND THE new HND life.
1.
B.Sc, B. Eng, B. Tech in Engineering for ENGINEERS
HND in Engineering from COREN accredited Polytechnics or Monotechnics.
ND in Engineering from accredited Polytechnics or Monotechnics.
WAEC Technical/NABTEB

2.
HND in an Engineering field + COREN accredited PGD in the same field, e.g. HND Civil Engineering + PGD Civil Engineering. for ENGINEERS
Degrees in Engineering from East Bloc translated as B.Sc in Engineering.
3.
HND in an Engineering field + NSE Graduateship Exam in the same field, e.g. HND Electrical + NSE Grad in Electrical Engineering.
Diploma – Grad from Continental Europe.
4.
B.Sc Physics with Electronics or B. Sc Computer Science + COREN accredited PGD in Electrical/Electronics Engineering or NSE Grad in Electrical/Electronics Engineering = B.Sc or B.Eng. or B.Tech. in Electrical/Electronics Engineering.
B. Tech in Engineering from some accredited American Universities as contained in ABET List.



5.
B. Sc Physics + COREN accredited PGD or NSE Grad in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering = B.Sc. or B.Eng. or B.Tech. in Met. &Mat.
Technologists Professional Examination for registered Technicians



6.
B. Sc Chemistry or Industrial Chemistry + COREN accredited PGD or NSE Grad in Chemical Engineering = B.Sc. or B.Eng. or B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering.




7.
HND in an Engineering field + COREN accredited Post HND in the same field.




8.
Diploma – Engineer from Continental Europe.






9.
Degrees in Engineering from the East Bloc translated as M. Sc.






10.
B.Sc (Building) + PGD (Civil) or NSE Grad in Civil.




11.
New B.Sc in some countries in Eastern Bloc as degree.




12.
H.N.D in a field + M.Sc in the same field.





Note: For further clarification on foreign qualifications, Consult ABET or FEANI


The decree specifies the abbreviation to be used by each cadre as follows:

1. A Registered Engineer shall use the abbreviation “Engr” before his name

2. A Registered Engineering Technologists shall use the abbreviation “Engn. Tech” after his name.

3. A Registered Engineering Technician shall use the abbreviation “Tech” after his name.

4. A Registered Engineering Craftsman shall use his full title “Craftsman” with his trade in bracket under his name.

They are all concerned NOW

SMEDAN, NBTE to Produce Future Entrepreneurs





This Day (Lagos)

August 30, 2005
Juliana Taiwo
Lagos

National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) have reached an agreement to collaborate with a view to developing a spirit of entrepreneurship amongst Nigerian youth and teach them the secret of financial independence.

The Executive Secretary of NBTE Dr. Nuru A. Yakubu, told newsmen after the meeting with the representative of Director General of SMEDAN, Mrs. Modupe Adelaja, the essence of the interaction was to first introduce SMEDAN as an organisation and some of its responsibilities to the rectors of the federal polytechnics.




"So through this collaboration we will use this to popularise, actualise what is already in our curriculum. As I told you earlier, it is not enough to have these technical skills but you must also have the capacity to be able to translate these skills from mere skills into micro enterprises, medium and small enterprises.
He is however not happy with the turn out of candidates at the last Monothecnics, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Matriculation Examination (PCE) exam, insisting that it would continue to hunt the future of the youth if such collaboration between SMEDAN and NBTE is to succeed[/i].

"It is very disheartening because from the figures released by the registrar of JAMB, only 150,000 registered out which a small fraction of 150,000 actually came to take the exam.

[i]As I said at the Senate Committee on education interactive session, this is a clear manifestation that something needs to be done very urgently for the Polytechnic sector. The issue of low moral is critical; the issue of discriminatory salaries and employment for graduates' polytechnics especially at the HND level must be removed."

Ideally this bar of grade level 14 must be removed so that people can reach the highest level along their own cadre. Secondly, there is discrimination between HND holders in technology and HND holders in non-technology areas. In federal civil service, those with technology areas enter the Federal Civil Service at grade level eight and those with non-technology HND are grade level seven.

"Now this discrimination is not applied to university degree holders. There is no discrimination between somebody who has bachelor degree in microbiology with somebody with bachelor degree in political science, why should this be applicable. Now these are the sort of things that really discourage parents, potential students to go into the polytechnics.

"You remove the discrimination at the entry level and at the civil service the issue of grade level 14 is there and I'm sure you will see a different story and better still to cap it, we are advocating still that some polytechnics which we have identified about five or six should be allowed to award their own degrees and we will be working and lobbying in the National Assembly and government to make an amendment in both the Federal Polytechnic Act and include in the National Polytechnic's Commission Act which we hope we will become law soon to enable some polytechnic award some B. Tech degrees in areas where they have competence.

"Can you imagine an institution like Kaduna Polytechnic that has been in existence for 49 years; Yaba for over 50 years cannot award degree but a university that has just been given license yesterday will between three four years start awarding degrees.

"This is unfair, this is wrong and if we really want to encourage technical and vocational education some of these institutions should be empowered. The arguments are very sound, is not only because other countries have done it, have gone through it and we believe this polytechnics are ripe to start awarding degrees but we also feel that what is happening in the polytechnics now where we cannot even have our own lecturers, the polytechnic sector has to go and employ the university products to come and teach.

"From personal experience I have found that many of them lack the technical experience and skills to teach in the polytechnic, so how can you teach something that you lack? So it is necessary to allow the system itself to produce its own teachers just like the universities are doing, this is the only way to encourage people to come to the polytechnic, you know that there is more window of opportunities if you choose to take this practical line that you can reach the highest level, get your degree and after graduation there will be no discrimination.

"So two things needs to be done: remove the ceiling of grade level 14 on holders of HND and two, allow some polytechnics to award bachelors' degree in some specialised and technical areas where they have competence. This discrimination is not fair and is doing so much damage to this sector, he emphasised".

Yakubu is routing for the following Polytechnics Yaba College of Technology, Kaduna Polytechnic, Auchi Polytechnic, IMT, Federal Polytechnic Ibadan, Bauchi or Federal Polytechnic Bida to award degrees. "They have the capabilities to award their own degrees", he insisted.

But many in the universities system are saying unless there is harmonization of curriculum between universities and polytechnics, discrimination will continue. This Yakubu disagree. Well if they are harmonisation of curriculum, I will disagree with that completely. I will agree with harmonisation of entry requirement.

You people are taking this thing too far... almost misrepresenting the facts of the matter, HND holder please tell me the minimum amount of credits in o levels one needs to enter polytechnic and also the minimum amount of credits in o level that one needs to enter a university.

You are taking us back again, to answer you question. Can you explain the meaning of policy statement?

Nobody ever told you that the polytechnic is a university and most student met the number of credit required for admissions. 4 credit for ND and at HND you reqiured OND+4credit+Experience. As professionals in their own way.

Commonwealth scholarship advert on page 45 & 46 of punch newspaper of 24/11/05 shows that all discrimination son HND came from Ministry of Education. No Hnd, Pgd holders are qualify to apply. God dey Gaskia ne

My fellow men and women. There has been an issue which has even affected most African Nations like Ghana and the rest.
Polytechnic Education really needs consultation with specialists to let people know what the Polytechnics with the HND are all about. When people raise the point that The Universities are Institution for higher learning, but not a Polytechnic, I strongly disagree, because The Polytechnics in US offer programs to the PhD levels.
Now the HND is a Technical, and a Practical Qualification on its own merit, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary as being equivalent to the Degree but without honors. People in South Africa go through the HND and proceed to MTech. and DTech.( Masters and doctorate of Technology respectively). So the HND has its own route as The Degree which is also from BSc to MSc, and to PhD.
Now in The US College Education is accessed by the Total Credit hours covered, and not what is HND or BSc. I know people with BSc from Africa and after their College or University Credit evaluations have been asked to top-up between two(2) and one(1) years.
When I entered the US with my 3-Years of Polytechnic HND my total Credit hours were evaluated to be 91 equivalent to the US college Education above the Associate degree, and I was Registered to sit for the Medical Technologists Exam. I successfully passed the Exam very well with some of my BSc colleagues so where stand the deference between the HND and the BSc.
I was designated a Medical Technologist,(MT) as a title attached after my name as my BSc guys with the same starting point.
Africans are so certificate minded and thats the main reasons the we cannot correctly develop. With the Introduction to the so called big Degrees what has Africa been able to do?
Think about this and do not let people who are narrow minded bring you down, consider yourself as someone special. Thank you