The Association of Private Polytechnics in Nigeria has called on President Bola Tinubu to sponsor a Bill for an Act to abolish the dichotomy between a Higher National Diploma and a Bachelor’s degree.
President of the Association, Dr Benjamin Achiatar made the call while addressing Newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
The dichotomy between HND and bachelor degree holders allows holders of the latter to be given preferential treatment in government jobs over the former.
Achiatar said though the dichotomy had been officially removed by the National Council on Establishment, its implementation was very poor because, according to him, it is not properly backed by law.
“The Bill to back it up was passed at the 9th Senate but was not duly signed into law by the then president. Therefore, a new Bill needs to be sponsored or the previous one revisited by the present 10th National Assembly and sent to President Tinubu for his assent,’’ he said.
Achiatar said that due to the dichotomy, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board records showed a yearly drastic reduction in the number of applications into polytechnics.
According to him, frustrated Nigerian candidates are fleeing to neighbouring countries of Dahomey, Togo, and Ghana to pursue their education, leading to a brain drain.
He hinted that the association’s request for more JAMB centres for adequate coverage of their Institutions was communicated to JAMB.
Achiatar, who is the Proprietor of Gboko Polytechnic, stressed the importance of technology education in fast-tracking the industrialisation of the country.
“We handle mostly technical training in Nigeria; in the polytechnics and mono-technics, we have various courses, and we train our students both in theory and practical. The emphasis we place on practical training is what makes us different from the university,’’ he said.
Achiatar said Nigerians needed to understand that technical and technological education is very important to the industrialisation of Nigeria.
“We are requesting the government to pay attention to all technology and technical education in Nigeria because, in the last few years, interest in technical and technological education has been reducing,” he said.
He argued that the increasingly lower number of students applying to polytechnics and mono-technics in the country through Jamb was affecting the economy as a whole.
“We are hoping that the government will see this and give adequate attention to this area, which will enable students to see the incentive to train in the field,‘’ he said.
He explained that the existing dichotomy between HND and BSc in Nigeria allows holders of BSC to be given preferential treatment over HND holders.
He said this discourages students from taking up courses that lead to HND, adding that generally, the government seems to be paying more attention to university education.
“That is why we are requesting that the government should sponsor a bill in the national assembly that will do away with the dichotomy,’’ Achiatar said.
He noted that recently, in a communique, the Chairmen of the Governing Councils of Polytechnics emphasised the need for conversion of the National Board for Technical Education into a commission.
Achiatar said the association was in full support of the conversion, which formed part of their concerns.
He clarified converting the NBTE, being their regulatory body, into a commission would also allow the NBTE to cater to the progressive needs of Nigerian polytechnics.
“They will have the capacity to work with the National Universities Commission to do accreditation in Polytechnics for the award of B. Tech (Hons), which will attract more students.
“So, these are the issues that are motivating us to inform Nigerians and the government about the advantages of boosting technology education in the country,’’ Achiatar said.
