PROTESTING students of the Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola, have called on the Minister of Education to probe the qualifications of the lecturers in the institution, alleging that unqualified persons were recruited to handled courses that are outside their areas of study.
Some of the protesting students, who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity Wednesday in Yola, alleged that the institution last week hired some lecturers from other higher institutions and presented them as heads of departments during the visit of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) officials who were in the school to assess some departments for accreditation.
They pointed out that the School of Agricultural Engineering is headed by an HND holder for years but that during the accreditation visit, a lecturer from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi (ATBU) was drafted as the head of the department and that some staff were drafted from the Ministry of Lands and Survey to man some departments, which were selected to be visited by the NBTE officials.

The students, who lamented that some of their lecturers found it difficult to communicate with students in a language they understood, urged the Federal Government to set up a committee to investigate how such lecturers were employed.

“We cannot continue to keep quiet when our future, which is built on quality education, is being murdered by some selfish individuals because of religious or tribal sentiments. We are not against anybody; we are only fighting for our rights,” one of the protesting students said.

When journalists contacted the Rector, Prof. Bobboi Umar, to comment on the allegations, he declined, saying “my visitors (NBTE officials) are still around, so we cannot comment on that issue now”.

The polytechnic has been in crisis for several years over non-payment of some selected lecturers and recruitments of teachers that are alleged to be unqualified to lecture in higher institutions. The management has also been accused of discrimination on religious and tribal sentiments.

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