when will this HND wahala stop sef?? we are tired of it o. Yar'adua and David Mark should look into it and find a lasting solution please. Or are they trying to tell us that they don't have brothers and sisters with HND that are being discriminated??

http://www.ican-ngr.org/31_acaholder.htm
ACA Holders without University Education
In Nigeria and most parts of the world, employers of labour now discriminate against chartered accountants that do not possess any university education on grounds that the professional training they received is restricted and parochial. In a global business environment, resource managers must necessarily possess broad-based knowledge which only the university curricula can provide.

ACA with Degrees and ACA with HNDs
Although, the holder of a Bachelor's degree in accountancy from an accredited University and a holder of the Higher National Diploma from an accredited Polytechnic enjoy the same rating in ICAN's scheme of things, many employers of labour, including practicing firms, are now known to prefer degree holders to HND holders. The samples of adverts above did not mention the HND although one of them said a degree or its equivalent awarded by a reputable university! It is a known fact that no university in Nigeria awards any HND. Thus, their preference is unambiguous. In fact, the career path of the polytechnic holder in the public service has an unofficial bar according to an investigation conducted by The Guardian newspaper . According to the report, while the HND holder can rise to Grade level 13 or USS 12, the graduate can rise to Grade level 14 or USS 13. It added that some new generation banks have a policy of not recruiting HND holders at all. Discrimination against holders of the higher national diploma qualification is a serious indictment of our undue knack for certificates considering the impressive profile and success stories of many of our members who graduated from the polytechnics.

www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/papers/stream4/adigun.doc
As Presented by:
MR. YINKA ADIGUN.
The kind of higher qualification one possesses (be it HND or BSC). 
In Nigeria today, you already have an edge if you are a university graduate.  Unlike what is obtained in the developed world where an intending student can either choose to go to the university or Polytechnic without fear of being unemployed after graduating, it is not so in Nigeria.  If you are a Bsc holder, you have a high probability of getting job in banks even if you went to the University to study French while those that have HND and studied Business related courses are considered as substitutes or second class.  This was started by Guaranty Trust Bank in the 90’s when it was looking for a way to down size the number of job applicants trooping to it’s offices nationwide everyday.  However, whether knowingly or unknowing to them the division has stayed since then up till now and will continue if steps are not taken to check it.undue priority should not be attached or given to any of the graduates but equal opportunity must be given to both so that those meriting the job can easily be selected through their performance in either test or interview.  I must note here that to become a graduate in Nigeria (either HND or Bsc), one must have spent at least four years in a certain institution with intensive lectures and hard examination questions to cap it.  Therefore, no unjust differentiation should now be brought between the two graduates.

This has only led us to a situation where there is always a mad rush for acquiring university education by our intending students to the detriment of polytechnic education for technical advancement of our dear country.  The Bsc holder also see himself as superior to HND holder because of the gap that has been created by the employer but which does not reflect the true ability of the graduates (Polytechnic/University).  In companies where the two graduates are employed, there will be inequality and the employees will find it hard to socialise with one another.undue priority should not be attached or given to any of the graduates but equal opportunity must be given to both so that those meriting the job can easily be selected through their performance in either test or interview.  I must note here that to become a graduate in Nigeria (either HND or Bsc), one must have spent at least four years in a certain institution with intensive lectures and hard examination questions to cap it.  Therefore, no unjust differentiation should now be brought between the two graduates.

Bros, all na story. No body cares about HND holders in Nigeria. Let them stop decieving people to patronize polytechnics and their HND certificate that has a stigma.

FG to Address Disparity Between Degree, HND Holders
From Toba Suleiman in Ado-Ekiti, 02.25.2008
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=104238

The Federal Government said at the weekend that in order to further widen the access to higher education as well as boost technical education, steps are being taken towards removing all forms of existing discrimination and discrepancies between the Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate and degree holders in the country.
The Minister of Education, Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachuku made the disclosure at the weekend while speaking at the 14th Convocation ceremony of the Federal Polytechnic,  Ado-Ekiti.
During the convocation, Rector of the Institution, Professor Olawumi Ajaja also disclosed that about 6,168 students received awards of both Higher National Diploma and  National Diploma (OND).
Ajaja stated further that while 4,219 got awards of ND, about 1,949 received the awards of HND, having completed their courses of study in the 2004/2005 and  2005/2006.
The Minister, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Jerry Agaga said "in order to give fillip to our desires, government is planning to set up a stakeholder's Forum of Nigeria's education and economical sectors to fashion out a technical policy within the frame work of the National Policy on Education for our polytechnics and Colleges of Technology.
According to him, "this is envisioned to attract our youths to embrace technical educaton and thus acquire the knowlege, skill and attitudes that will assure fulfillment for the induvidual, prosperity for the nation as well a socio-economic stability.

"I am positive that whatever emerges at the end of the day will be acceptable to all and will be a catalyst that will rejuvenate this vital sector," the minister said.
The minister added that in an attempt to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs, the huge amount of money allocated to education in the 2008 budget by the Federal Government, was for teaching and research.

Speaking further, the minister said  the political will of the government in committing huge economic resources to education, especially teaching andresearch was not without purpose. He explained that it was predicated on the fact that the acquisition of relevant and appropriate technologies accompanied by a well-trained man power is the most effective means of empowerment for the citizenry.
He said it will stimulate and sustain national development, enhance employment, improve the quality of life and reduce poverty.
In his speech, the Rector of the institution, said the merging of polytecnics with universities would be tantamount to the outright scrapping of the former, which were establilshed in the first place for the production of middle-level skilled manpwer.
Ajaja emphasized that skilled manpower is precisely what the country is desperately needs at its present level of development.
He noted that the major rationale for the tertiary education consolidation policy, it would appear, was the apparent disparity between polytechnic and university graduates in the job market, which he said has resulted in the apathy of candidates towards polytechnic education.

Concerning HND and BSC

Guardian newspaper of 8/04/2008
SIR: I feel compelled to respond to the letter published in your newspaper about the disparity between the HND and BSc degrees, written by Rebecca Adeoba on March 25, 2008. It is surprising that the writer only tried to compare both degrees based on the number of years spent studying but he failed to mention the quality of the degrees.

You can't compare the two systems of learning based on the number of years only. Otherwise are we going to say that an apprentice mechanic is the same as a Mechanical Engineering graduate because they both spend five to seven years studying or is our education better than what obtains in American universities where students spend three years to get a degree? What of the curriculum, what of the quality of what is being taught and those teaching it?

BSc degrees are administered mainly by Professors and PhD holders who are well versed in their fields while it is very hard to find one PhD holder in a Polytechnic much less a professor. It should be noted that those who designed the educational system in the country meant to rate HND degrees lower than BSc degrees.

Or how would you explain a move by the Federal Government some two years back to attach Polytechnics to universities and elevate the two best Polytechnics to the status of universities. They were simply saying those two are too good to remain ordinary Polytechnics.

I think it is time we stepped up to the challenge of what we have built with our own hands. It is either Polytechnics remain as they are and continue to be below the universities or we genuinely transform them or scrap them altogether. Until we cross this bridge, things sadly will remain as they are. It is interesting to note that those making decisions for or against Polytechnics are all university graduates and I am yet to find a Polytechnic graduate who is a head of a Polytechnic.

Olawale Ogunibe
Lagos.

@HND-holder
I have said it before that converting kaduna polytechnic and yaba college of Technology into universities really implies that polytechnics are inferior to universities, else if polytechnics and universities are the same in Nigeria why trying to convert one to the other in the first place??

My own advice is that polytechnics should remain as polytechnics but should be allowed to run ND, HND/BTech, MTech/MSc and PHd programs; that is when people will come to agree that the polytechnic is more or less a university of Technology.

We can not leave polytechnic in the hand of those who do not know the value. Pride of degree is now killing everybody.

There is a lot of hypocrisy in this country or maybe people just like to play politics with an issue that is of great concern to the country.
There is a wide gulf of difference between a university and polytechnic system of education, but in a country where the right hand can easily be mistaken for the left, one need not worry about the mixed up.

To be sincere, Nigeria is a certificate oriented country with little regard to dignity of labour, that in part is responsible for our backwardness, we glory certificate at the expense of skill and ability, that is why a footballer weekly pay in UK earns sometimes a year salary of some masters holders in some field of endearvour. What am trying to say is that if a street sweeper is good and deligent he/she should be well paid, sincerely, if people are well renumerated and compensated in their various profession, better still if the so-called poly graduate who are suppose to have technical skills are well equiped, they would ve been creating jobs to employ the so-called graduates that they re envious of today. In essence, if there is a level playing field for everyone, there will be less emphassy on HND/BSC dichotomy.

However, as I mentioned earlier on, there is a wide different between the two system, the philosophy,design, and purpose of a university education is different from that of polytechnics, for one the university system is for higher learning, the hieght of human intellectual emancipation and reasoning, at the early days of the creation of the university system, it is assumed that the university system is the highest hieght of human ideas and enlightment. That is why it was written in front of the senate building of one of the oldest university in the world (sweeden) "HOUSE OF SCANDAL" This simply means that any ideas, reasoning or enlightment that is above the university system is a scandal, in other words the university system is the Alpha and Omega of higher learning.

Now, a classical example of modus operandi, of polytechnic and university, the university system hires lecturer to teach and research while the plytechnic teachers are hire to teach alone, in essence if such a lecturer has no program to further his/her education he contineus to dish out the same knowledge year in year out, that account for why there is no research grant for polytechnic lecturers.

It is also worthy of note to mentioned here that the idea of polytechnic education was introduced in Nigeria as a result of shortage of technical skills in Nigeria immidiately after iindependence when all the expartriate left, Poly education was introduced to train Nigerians in vocation skills (not research based) to provide immidiate technical skills and employment to bridge the gap left by the colonialists.

Until recently in the early 90s, you only need three credits to gain admission to any polytechnic and then you don't need to do any Jamb nor go for NYSC service. Infact the earliest polytechnics in Nigeria Yaba, Ibadan & Kadpoly etc were referred to then in the west as "Ile Ikose Gbogbonise" meaning vocational skill college". All these reasons and many more are responsible for the unnessary and celebrated dichotomy between the two HND/BSC.

In short,in an ideal situation, the two system suppose not to be in rivalry but should complement as they have different purposes. Also, the military mentality of superior and inferior coupled with the exploitative nature of business owner that use this to their advantage in term of salary policy.

Those in the polytechnic today are the children of the poor. How can Technological education be placed in the hand of people who are not ready for it? Just by chance nobody want to be in the polytechnic it is always by chance. No wonder then that one credit holder can be in the polytechnic now.

@HND-holder

Polytechnics in Ghana now award BTech, why can't Nigerian government amend the laws establishing and controlling polytechnics in Nigeria so as to allow dem award BTech too??

SegzyJoe:

Until recently in the early 90s, you only need three credits to gain admission to any polytechnic and then you don't need to do any Jamb nor go for NYSC service.

You are very far from the truth. You need 3 credits to go into a Pre-ND program in the polytechnic and not 100 levels just the same way people with 3 credits go into Pre-degree and Remedial programs in the university and not 100 levels.

And polytechnic graduates with HND have been going for NYSC before the early 90's

Take it or leave it, HND is not at par with a Bachelor degree ANYWHERE in the world. HND are awarded by institutions both in UK and US and to get a BSc you will still need to go back to school for another one and half years or so. I think HND holders in Nigeria should consider themselves lucky that some organisations still take them at same entry level with BSc and that they go for NYSC program.

In the 80s, NCE holders were allowed to go for NYSC alongside HND and BSC graduates, and many of the NCE holders were deluded that their certificate is same as HND and BSc because of this, its the same delusion that worries present HND holders thinking what they have is same as BSc.

To teach in a HND program you need to have a degree, to head a polytechnic you need to have a PhD from a university, don't that tell you something?

HND holders are best taken for direct entry 200 in the university, may be they should allow them to go in to 300level but it shouldnt be more than that.

Diplomas arent same as degrees!!! Period

JJay1:


Diplomas arent same as degrees!!! Period

You lie. Diploma in Germany is the same as a Degree.

Hi guys,checkout my site www.destinyndreamz.co.uk

I think i have come to agree with those saying that HND and BSc are not equivalent. With what is going on in Nigeria now i think FG are just playing games with Polytechnic graduates, else why taking Bsc holders as level 08 officers and HND holders as level 07 officers in the civil service?? They have so decieved many Nigerians to go for HND telling them that it is equivalent to a Degree. They even ask HND graduates to go for NYSC with Degree holders; but at the end of the day they still term the HND graduate as a decorated monkey; and a decorated monkey can never be a human being as we all know, it is still a monkey. That is exactly what i feel and believe about this discrimination against HND holders in Nigeria. Chei, na wa oo. Run away from HND my brothers and sisters.

HND amd B.SC are not the same and should not be seen as the same. The focus of the two types of edu are different.
And think about it, after OND, you've completed a programme and you can actually pursue A LONG TERM CAREER with it. You may even decide not to go to school again after just 2 years of TERTIARY EDU. Or you can rest for years later to pursue your HND or whatever.
However with a University education, you need more endurance to bag it. A minimum of 4 straight years of education or 8 semesters for UME admissions. after 7 semesters and an oustanding results in school, you cannot still bag your degree if you choose to leave.
So you talk about more endurance to prepare for a life ahead.
That's part of the reason why the two types of education are different.

HND certificate has suffered so much in Nigeria. May God continue to console HND holders.

hnd must reduce its work load or die in nigeria no retreat no surrender

@HND-holder

Please what is the entry level for HND holders in the federal civil service? is it level 08 or 07?? please let us know.

It was level 08 some establishment play the HND down with 07 since it was not in the former documents it was as if they were helping us by giving us lower job to do.

Coheads Support Phasing Out of HND


Daily Trust (Abuja)


NEWS
4 July 2008
Posted to the web 4 July 2008

By Abdulraheem Aodu
Kaduna

The Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology has thrown its weight behind Federal Government's recent decision to phase out Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes in institutions throughout the country within two years.

The council said in a communiqué issued at the end of its 111th regular meeting and the National Board for Technical Education/Poly Expo held in Kaduna and signed by the COHEADS Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Kazaure that the implementation of government's decision would advance the growth and development of technology in the tertiary institutions.


The COHEADS stressed that it was confident that the Federal Government's decision to phase out HND programmes in polytechnics across the country would also go a long way in putting a stop to the discrimination the holders of the certificate had suffered in the hands of the employers of labour.

"The COHEADS welcome the recent pronouncement by the Minister of Education, Dr. Igwe-Aja Nwachukwu on the phasing out of HND programmes within a period of two years. Council is confident that this undertaking will advance the growth and development of technology," it said.

But while commending the efforts of some state governments in encouraging the development of science and technology, the COHEADS observed with dismay the lukewarm attitude accorded polytechnic education by the others. It therefore enjoined state governments to strive to encourage the development of vocational and technical education as a leeway to economic growth, wealth creation and self-employment.

"The polytechnic sector has consistently embarked on research and development which has translated in the innovations and development of various equipment and teaching aids as exhibited at the NBTE/Poly Expo. The government is prayed to provide appropriate funding to encourage the mass production/commercialization of such innovations and inventions.

"That state governments are encouraged to effect the payment of the CONTISS salary package to the polytechnic lecturers to forestall brain drain to other sectors of the economy and also to encourage the growth of science and technology. The issue of payment of CONTISS 15 to all chief lecturers and principal staff should be gazetted to improve staff morale.

HND holders are still facing intense discriminaton in the public and private sectors.

What really is the difference between HND and BSc?

if there is any difference then it should be in the course work of the HND. The HND has a technical bias in all or most courses unlike the Bsc.

Group Petitions Presidency over Customs Recruitment
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 09.24.2008 this day

A civil society group, Equal Rights Agenda (ERA), has petitioned President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua over moves by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to create disparity between universities and polytechnics graduates in its on-going recruitment.The group claimed that the NCS has tacitly placed holders of the Higher National Diploma (HND) at the Inspectorate level.

@HND-holder
It's very annoying.

I think the government wanted it so if not why do they fail to keep their own promise

Hnd-holder:

I think the government wanted it so if not why do they fail to keep their own promise

have they ever kept to any promise concerning polytechnic before?

This problem still dey?

We were together at Ibadan. I know his family any thing for him?

HND is not necessarily a death warrant

We thank God , the government white paper implementation of parity between HND and Bsc is in progress. One Jamb now for Polytechnic and University we are expecting the head of service to write implementation circular come this year OCT.