NEGLECT OF POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION

FOR Nigeria to attain accelerated technological development, polytechnics across the country must function effectively, according to Prof. Taiwo Ajayi, the chief executive officer of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA)
However the polytechnics must necessarily be effectively managed and appropriately structured to have the expected capacity to enable the country to be among the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.
It is a general knowledge that education is the bedrock of growth and development of any nation. Its role to overall national development cannot be overemphasized. In fact, it is a sinequanon for the achievement of sustainable cum significant magnitude of development in a country.
Technical education is a subsector of the educational sector which is designed to impart knowledge and necessary skills in order to provide competent and well-skilled manpower for industrial and technological development.
It is structured to be technical, scientific, educational, practical, and research-oriented. Rapid increase in technological advancement around the globe has accentuated the indispensability of technical education. It is basically on this note that the then colonial masters established the polytechnics with the objective of training and provision of the manpower requirement for industrial and technological development and the execution of the nation’s development plan, goal and objectives.
Apparently, the managements of the polytechnics have been striving tirelessly for the achievement of the objective for the establishment of the institutions. Most federal and few other state polytechnics and private polytechnic, through the infinitesimal amount they receive from the (Tertiary Education Trust Fund) as well as their IGR, has ensured the provision of the facilities and other equipments that will help to foster students’ practical knowledge and skills in order to inculcate the desired practical knowledge in them.
In addition, most of these polytechnics drafted policies that will enable them maintain good academic standard, good examination conduct, effective lecture delivery pattern, setting up of monitoring group on both students and lecturers in order to combat corruption in the institutions.
Their curriculum, as designed by the NBTE, is structured to impart appropriate and adequate knowledge to their students without being behind their university counterparts. This is made evident in the product of the polytechnics who find their way into the public service or the industries through exhibiting sui generis skills and contributing immensely to productivity.
Furthermore, significant comprehension of the dynamic realities of the labour markets prior to graduation is very pertinent as this will reduce wastages occurring as a result of incompetency and poor knowledge of the industry, increase efficiency of employee, make for easy adaptation and increase productivity. Therefore, the managements of the polytechnics incorporated in their scheme a compulsory twice Industrial Training (IT) programme for their students.
A four-month IT after their ND1 and another one year IT at the conclusion of their national Diploma which will then serve as a mandatory prerequisite for their admission into Higher National Diploma (HND) programme. These IT programmes expose their students to a better understanding of the ever changing industrial environment (or the real world) as well as its intrinsic challenges and prepare them to fit into this world after their graduation.
Unfortunately, irrespective of the undisputable importance of this subsector of the educational sector to national development, polytechnic education has faced one major perennial challenge which has breed other challenges bedeviling its development.
This major problem is the unmitigated neglect on the polytechnic education by both the government and private industries. This was made evident by government’s flippancy to developing the subsector as well as its inability to give attentions to issues affecting them (the polytechnics). It has concentrated its attention to the development of its only recognized institution in the country (the university) making polytechnics nothing but glorified secondary schools.
This challenge has culminated to several other problems of which the interminable discrimination between HND holders (polytechnic graduates) and Bsc holders (university graduates) is the most disheartening. This issue has lingered since the inception of polytechnics in Nigeria. Myriads of articles have been written by concerned citizens to sensitize the government and the entire public on its adverse effect on economic development as well as the need to end it. Yet, nothing significant has been done to bring it to an end.
This appalling dichotomy is so open that it is exhibited by both public and private sector. In the public/civil service, career progression of HND holders is limited before they could get to the highest grade level even though they were found more competent than their Bsc counterparts. Specifically, promotion of HND holders stops at level 14 whereas Bsc holders continue to level 17.
This makes it possible for a Bsc holder to be promoted above a HND holder who has spent 5 years or more before the Bsc holder was employed. So unfair! Other forms of discrimination meted against HND holders are in the areas of inequality in salary grade level and also in the security agencies where Bsc holders are commissioned whereas HND holders are non-commissioned.
As a result of this stigmatization against polytechnic graduates, polytechnics, therefore, do not give the psychological satisfaction of being a graduate or under-graduate. Consequently, hardly would you see a student seeking admission into high institution who applies to a polytechnic since he already have knowledge of the fact that he will be rated below his university counterparts. Admittedly tough, there are university graduates who are better than polytechnic graduates, yet, there are also polytechnic graduates who are far better than university graduates. Agreeably, then, polytechnic students are by no means academically or mentally inferior to their university counterparts.
What then is the justification for the marginalization and disdainful treatment on polytechnic graduates and under-graduates?
In addition, polytechnic subsector has not gotten adequate funding from the government. According to Chibuzor Asomugha, ASUP National President, the government budgetary provision for the polytechnic sector are not only a deep reflection of the deep neglect of the sector but the embarrassing extent to which it has continued to misplace proprieties in the quest for technological development. In 2012 budget where over N400 billion was allocated to the entire education sector, Asomugha said that the government was biased in the allocation.
According to him, federal polytechnics got N63.7 billion, representing 15.92 percent, while federal colleges of education got N42.5 billion which represented 10.62 percent. But federal universities got N188.4 billion representing 47.10 percent, an indication that the university sector alone received almost twice what was allocated to the polytechnics and colleges of education. What a shame!
Also, this flippancy and lack of commitment by the federal government on polytechnic education can be said to be the reason why ASUP strike has lingered. Recall that the Academic Staff Union of the Polytechnics (ASUP) embarked on an indefinite strike on the 29th of April, 2013 which lasted for 81days which paralyzed academic activities as well as disrupted academic calendar of the institutions. Interventions were made by the Joint Senate and House Committee on Education and several appeals were also made by other concerned bodies which lead to the suspension of the strike.
The leaders of the union stated that the suspension was to enable the committee to liaise with relevant agencies and ministries with a view to tackling all issue contained in the unions demand within a time frame of one month. Unfortunately, FG and the committee did not fulfill their promise to the union after one month and they resumed their indefinite strike on the 4th of October, 2013.
The demands of striking union, among others, are the need for the constitution of governing councils for the polytechnics, non-release of white paper on the visitation panels to federal government, commencement of NEEDS assessment of the polytechnic, continuous appointment of unqualified persons as rectors and provost by some state government, failure of government to implement the approved salary package(CONPCASS), 65-year retirement age for the members, the worrisome state of State owned polytechnics, the continued recognition of the National Board of Technical Education as the regulatory body of the Nigerian polytechnics as against the unions repeated call for the establishment of National Polytechnic Commission(NPC), the non commencement of the re-negotiation of the FGN/ASUP agreement as contained in the signed agreement, the snail speed on works on the amendment of the federal polytechnic Act/scheme of service and migration of the lower cadre to CONTISS salary scale.
Every sagacious human being could believe that the agitations of this union is not based on selfishness but centered on the development of the polytechnic education. As a result of this strike action, students have been forced to stay at home jobless with their parents, frustrated and spend all their time gazing at the screen of their television and making their mobile phones their best companion. Some who cannot withstand the frustration fall victim to one social vice or the other.
Mrs Oby Ezekwesili’s reform was the decision to ban polytechnics from awarding the Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates. That policy finally came into effect on March 14 following its ratification by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) after the adoption of recommendations by the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of all Federal Colleges of Education and Polytechnics.
With the decision, polytechnics will no longer admit students for HND programmes. However, the current set of HND students will be allowed to complete their programmes.Under the new dispensation, students in the consolidated polytechnics will graduate with Bachelors of Technology Degree (B/Tech).
Notwithstanding the policy shift, Ezekwesili assured, government will continue to recognize HNDs."There will be no more award of HND. After we have exhausted the current students under the programme, there will be no more award of HND. This means that there will be no more fresh admission for HND programmes. In addition, any programme that is not technical will be out of the polytechnics. About 70 per cent of polytechnic graduates are in the non-technical courses.
It is going to be a rigorous implementation programme," she said."The HND will remain a legal tender in Nigeria and holders of such certificates will continue to be recognized as the equivalent of first degree holders without discriminatory remunerations and limit to progression in the work place.
Finally, No meaningful national development could be achieved by any nation without sound and qualitative technical education as asserted by Patrick Ajunwa. The question now is, “how would our country develop and fit into the global trend of technological advancement when it has failed to develop the technical education?” I, therefore, implore federal government; develop our polytechnics to develop our nation.
FROM COMRADE DAVID E, BUSAYO
FORMER NATIONAL PRESIDENT EKITI KWARA STUDENTS
KWARA STATE POLYTEHNIC ILORIN,
07064664519
Budav4fem@gmail.

ctrl C+ ctrlV without references is called plagiarism

No more HND? Definitely ND should also be cancelled and they should be running their programmes like their university counter. Or how will they do it? I dont understand how polytechnic will be running their program now after cancelling HND. Please can anyone explain this?