Parity battle between varsities, polytechnics lingers

The crisis of confidence in the tertiary sector, triggered by the discrimination between polytechnic graduates and their varsity counterparts on one hand and the marginalisation of polytechnic lecturers and their university teachers, have fuelled renewed clamour for the elevation of polytechnics into degree-awarding institutions. EMMANUEL OLADESU reports.

Many polytechnic graduates are not happy after leaving school. One of them, Bola, 25, a graduate of Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos – the pioneer tertiary institution in the country – complains that she is not proud of her Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate, which, in her view, is rated inferior to a varsity degree in the society.

She had toiled for five years before obtaining the certificate. But, to her consternation, the HND is now a stigma, a source of trauma and a tragedy of sort. She is bitter against the system that launched her into a nightmare and locked in a self-battle to erase from her memory what she now describes as the pains of a somehow fruitless academic labour.

Bola has an axe to grind with the society. Her grouse may not be misplaced. Those in her shoes believe that it is not without justification. “I and indeed, other polytechnic graduates suffer discrimination in three fronts in the employment market”, says the young graduate, who outlines the limitations and constraints of polytechnic education.

“We face a challenge in the civil service, which places us (polytechnic products) a step below our polytechnic counterparts in the cadre. The pompous varsity graduates, who are masters of theories and philosophies, deride us as products of Advanced Technical Colleges (ATCs), although we excel in practical applications than many of them.

“Also, the private sector, especially the top flight banks, other financial institutions and multi-nationals, often close their doors against polytechnic graduates in preference for bachelor degree holders as if we have defects.”

Another polytechnic product, Kemi, is in the same frame of mind. She laments the disparity between the HND and B.Sc certificates in the employment market. She contended that many polytechnic students are assailed by the fear of the future. According to Kemi, her experience after completing the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme has confirmed her fears.

When she was shortlisted for an interview after attempting an aptitude test by a bank on Victoria Island, Lagos, she was highly excited. But, her ego was bruised on the day of the interview. “We were many at the interview venue. But, shortly before the commencement of the interview, the HND holders were isolated by a bank official, who told us that we were selected for the interview in error. Our undoing was our HND certificates,” she lamented.

Another job applicant, Kayode Omoniyi, an English graduate from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, who witnessed the ordeals of the polytechnic graduates, said: “That day, I thanked my star for attending a university. When the official asked the HND graduates to leave the venue, they left hurriedly; very disappointed and bitter at the official, the bank, the polytechnics they attended, their certificates and themselves. It was an agonising experience.”

In Nigeria’s march of technological development, polytechnics are acclaimed technological institutions for breeding competent professionals, who are required to actualise the national dream. The scope of the polytechnic education include teaching, research, public service, and the production of technological manpower, new knowledge and innovations in technology for the technological advancement of the country. But, in the public perception, polytechnic engineering and science products are not at par with their university counterparts. This perceived low rating has drawn the ire of polytechnic-trained engineers and technologists, who decried the discriminatory policies, in terms of employment and conditions of service, which tend to depict them as inferior to their university colleagues. While university engineering graduates are described as “engineers”, their polytechnic counterparts are regarded as “technologists.”

Polytechnic teachers, who frown at the discrepancy, traced the dichotomy to Decree 55 of 1970 (later amended as Decree 27 of 1992), which set out the conditions for the recognition and registration of engineers. Polytechnic engineers, under the aegis of the National Association of Technological Engineers (NATE), believe the legal provisions have foreclosed easy registration for their members.  A member of the association, Olu Kolawole, who decried the marginalisation of NATE members in workplaces, said the discrimination lacked basis.

He queried: “In Britain, HND holders in engineering are incorporated as engineers. Why must we be different from Germany and Britain, which are developed countries, or Ghana and Kenya, which are developing countries?

A similar anxiety is experienced by polytechnic accounting graduates. Kayode Ojo, an accounting graduate from The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, is worried that the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) has different views about the quality of accounting graduates from the two divides. “ICAN discriminatory lenses see university accounting graduates as accountants and accord the National Diploma (ND) and HND holders from polytechnics the low profile of book-keepers,” he pointed out.

Ojo also complained about the perception of the university operators about the polytechnic. He said: “When I completed my NYSC and I applied for a Masters Degree Programme at the university, I was denied the offer of admission. They said I could not do masters programme with my HND. I had to do a one-year post-graduate diploma to qualify me for a masters’ degree in Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo. This clearly shows that B.Sc and HND are not equal.”

Also, polytechnic teachers often complain about the disparity in the conditions of service for tertiary institutions. Although the university teachers, led by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), fought and won the protracted battle for the University Salary Scale (USS), a similar agitation by their polytechnic counterparts, led by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), has been futile. Until recently, ASUP members were still boycotting work to protest the non-approval of salary increment. Under the last dispensation, the Federal Government simply ignored the striking polytechnic teachers. For more than eight months, academic activities were paralysed in the polytechnics. When ASUU coughs, government shivers. But, when ASUP cries, government is unperturbed.

“It is like there is a conspiracy against the polytechnic by university stakeholders. There is apathy for polytechnic education. Apart from the societal perception, those people handling polytechnic education are not proper stakeholders. They don’t have their children in the polytechnics. They see polytechnics as second class tertiary institutions,” said YABATECH ASUP Chairman, Adeyemi Aromolaran.

The unionisit added: “When university teachers are on strike, the media, parents and other people will be appealing to the government to negotiate with them. When their counterparts in the polytechnics embark on similar industrial action, some people will even claim that they are not aware after several months.”

Carpeting the government for not developing polytechnics, unlike the universities, a lecturer at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Dave Ohiorheuan, said the neglect has led to brain drain.

“Academic staff in the polytechnics constitute a reservoir of highly skilled manpower, which performs the critical functions of design, production and distribution within the national economy. It is not surprising, therefore, that polytechnics lose their staff to the industries due to poor remuneration. It is has been a battle to attain the Harmonised Tertiary Institution Salary Scale (HATISS) 15 in the polytechnics, unlike in the universities. Polytechnic teachers have been agitating for this more than two decades,” he stressed.

Ohiorheuan also lamented that polytechnic system has no clear-cut identity as polytechnics are lumped together with the technical schools under the supervision of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). The Federal Government has not acceded to ASUP’s demand for the National Polytechnics Commission (NPC), although the agitation has been on for more than two decades.

The number of institutions under the supervision of NBTE makes the body an octopus. The body supervises 228 institutions. They comprise 25 federal polytechnics, 40 state polytechnics, 30 private polytechnics, 17 federal colleges of agriculture and 19 state colleges of agriculture. In addition, the NBTE supervises 23 federal monotechnics and specialised or applied institutions, two state monotechnics, and two private monotechnics. Also, under its supervision are nine federal colleges of health technology, 40 state colleges of health technology and one private college of health technology. NABTE also supervises 135 approved vocational educational institutions: 19 federal technical colleges, 110 state technical colleges and three private technical colleges.

The picture contrasts sharply with the universities and colleges of education, which are supervised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Colleges of Education Commission (NCEC), which supervises the colleges of education.

“It is clear that NBTE is saddled with a herculean burden, which has translated into its ineptitude in handling polytechnic matters. It is sad that universities, colleges of education, primary education and nomadic education have commissions, but polytechnic s are deprived,” said Ohiorheuan, who described the omission as “unjust, discriminatory and contrary to the principles of natural justice, equity and good conscience.”

ASUP is also at loggerheads with government over the appointment of university professors as Rectors in some polytechnics. According to the union, “polytechnics are made subservient to the universities through the appointment of university professors as Rectors, although there are experienced lecturers in the system to assume the positions.”

An ASUP member from the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTEC), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said university lectuers, who becomes heads of polytechnics, suffer from what he described as superiority complex. He said: “In those polytechnics where professors from universities are appointed as rectors, they hardly understand the polytechnic system. They bask in the euphoria of superiority and cannot come down to the level of principal and chief lecturers, especially if these polytechnic lecturers do not have doctoral degrees.”

On few occasions, the polytechnic management has come out of their cocoon of silence to register their displeasure at the slight of their institutions. Former Rector, The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Dr. Esan Makanjuola, once criticised the Federal Government for its partiality in the monitoring of the universities and polytechnics. He pointed out that, while the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is the visitor to the federal universities and governors to the state universities, a decree, which he described as retrogressive, made ministers visitors to the polytechnics. “This exposes the polytechnics to undue ministerial influence,” he added.

During a summit on higher education in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), ASUP drew the attention of the government to the discriminatory tendencies. “Government has done much for the universities, in terms of providing a conducive atmosphere for learning. The President has wooed investors to build hostels for universities, but it appears the polytechnics are not included in the arrangement.”

On funding, the union also faulted government’s predisposition to the polytechnics. A leader of the union in LASPOTECH, Kofo Olayinka, pointed out that government is guilty of partiality and preferential treatment, adding that polytechnics are often ignored in the time of emergency. “When the Federal Government unfolded plans for the eradication of cultism from tertiary institutions, the disbursement of cult-eradication mobilisation grant was only limited to universities while polytechnics were left in the cold. A varsity don, Prof. Olu Aina, who agreed with the view, said: “The resources committed to the polytechnic education in overall quantum and the manner of their allocation and disbursement leave much to be desired.”

Olayinka attributed the neglect of the polytechnics to the background of successive ministers of education, who he said, were appointed from the universities. He noted that government usually avoids the polytechnics while sourcing for personnel and community service in the military and civilian dispensations, unlike university teachers, who have remained attractive to the corridors of power.

“When these university professors and lecturers are in power as ministers and commissioners, they defend the universities. But, when they are appointed as Rectors and members of the governing councils of the polytechnics, they do not defend the polytechnics,” he fumed.

Curiously, the polytechnic also suffers from self-inflicted pains because it discriminates against itself. It is a contradiction that the institution which seeks to remove the speck in the eye of the university has not noticed the log in its own eye. Olayinka observed that the polytechnic has shot itself in the foot and suffers from its embarrassing reputation for digging the career graves of its products employed in its own service.

The reality of self-liquidation finds expression in the polytechnic’s recruitment and placement whereby HND holders are placed on ranks lower than that of their B.Sc counterparts, despite the absence of marked difference in experience and years of graduation. In the view of the polytechnic teacher, the maltreatment of polytechnic products by the system that bred them is absurd.

“The polytechnic underrates it products. The word ‘diploma’ has a different connotation. No HND holder can aspire to teach in the university. In the polytechnic, a university graduate begins his teaching career as an Assistant Lecturer, but a polytechnic graduate starts as an Instructor. Who is a lecturer and who is an instructor? he asked.

Polytechnic graduates in the administrative cadres are not faring better than their colleagues in the academic positions. As a LASPOTECH principal officer explained: “We have administrative cadre in the polytechnic. A polytechnic graduate may be senior in terms if emolument, but in terms of nominal role, the university graduate is the senior. This simply explains the discrepancy in the employment ratings of polytechnic and university graduates in the service of the polytechnic.”

In the civil service, it is the same scenario. Alluding to the discrimination within the service, an official pointed out that polytechnic graduates also take the back seat as HND holders are placed a step lower than B.Sc holders. “A HND holder may not get to the zenith in the civil service. He may not get to the director’s level. By the time he gets to level 14, that is, if he gets there, he retires,” he said.

A polytechnic graduate, Bolaji Sogunle, observed that the rejection of polytechnic products amounted to the devaluation and suppression of the institution. Like Bola and Kemi, he narrated another bitter experience: “NNPC once advertised some vacancies in the newspaper, stating categorically that HND holders are unwanted. In the police, A B.Sc is placed on Level 8 and HND is given a step lower. It is psychologically painful that we suffer this glaring inequality in our own country.”

A banker, Ibu Falayi, who graduated from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, also had a sad tale to tell. He said that despite being a chartered accountant, he was denied promotion because he lacked a university degree. “My juniors were being promoted because they are university products. But, I have HND in accounting. My chartered status was not considered. After much frustration, I had to return to the university to do a part-time degree course in Economics before I could earn a promotion,” he recalled.

Former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel, who once taught engineering at the polytechnic, has expressed discomfort with the public indifference to the plight of the products. At the National Conference on the Development of Polytechnic Education, held at LASPOTECH, Ikorodu Campus, he chided stakeholders for the relegation of the institution. He said the mindset that that polytechnics as inferior to the university is an affront on technological education in the country. “The polytechnic system requires a surgical operation. We have been brought up to accept that the meal ticket could only be earned from the university. So, polytechnic products still believe they are nowhere without university degrees. An educational system that puts thousands of our youths in the unemployment market is not the best for the country. The system needs a complete overhaul”, he added.

More worrisome is the discrimination against HND holders, in terms of post-graduate admission. The polytechnic does not run masters’ and doctoral degree programmes. To progress, its products have to turn to the university where they sometimes meet a brick wall. Indeed, academic progression beyond the HND may be temporarily foreclosed as the doors of the universities are shut against polytechnic graduates willing to embark on masters’ degree programmes.

In many universities, they suffer the indignity of going through the lengthy process of registering as part-three students to bag a B.Sc degree before proceeding to the post-graduate school. The alternative route for the HND holder is to register for a post-graduate diploma course before securing the entry ticket into the university higher degree programmes.

The effect is the mass migration of polytechnic students to the universities and the growing distaste for polytechnic education by parents and secondary school leavers, due to the preconceived belief that the polytechnic is inferior to the university.

“Polytechnic students are trying to abandon their ND and HND programmes. They prefer the universities, although the polytechnic is in a better position to offer sound training in engineering and other practical fields,” explained Theresa Sado, a former YABATECH student, who added: “others believe that, because law, medicine and pharmacy are not taught in the polytechnic, it is inferior and the university is superior.”

Over the years, relative to population growth, there has been a steady decline in the number of candidates jostling for polytechnic admissions, compared to the candidates for the university admission, owning to the higher demand for university graduates. However, some Nigerians still find solace in the part-time programmes of the polytechnic, if they cannot make it to the university part-time programmes.

Former NBTE Executive Secretary, Dr. Nuhu Yakubu, who echoed Sado’s views, noted that many parents do not want their children in the polytechnic, except when they could not secure admission into the university.

He said: “In fact, some parents withdraw their children from the polytechnic at a later stage in their studies whenever they secured admission for them in any university, in some cases, after the children had spent some semesters or even sessions. A very disturbing trend, which has gained popularity, is for the holders of ND from polytechnics to ‘crossover’, as it were, to do a degree, mostly through the direct entry route at 200 level.” he stressed. However, the trend is becoming old fashioned. These days, university only reserve few direct entry slots for polytechnic students.

To redeem the career of polytechnic graduates, a “bridge programme” was worked out between the NBTE and NUC to enable HND holders pursue higher degrees in the universities. But, reflecting on this arrangement, Aina said the universities appeared uncommitted to the idea.

Currently, some polytechnics are affiliated with universities to run degree courses. But, Rectors are complaining that the arrangement essentially downgrade the institutions to subordinate positions. Under the arrangement, lectures, workshops, tutorials and examinations are conducted by the polytechnics. The roles of the supervising universities are limited to approving final results and periodic assessment of staff facilities. This is the nature of the collaboration between the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka and YABTECH.

As a result of the agitation of polytechnics for degree-awarding status, the Yabani Panel was set up by the Federal Government to look at the modalities for mounting degree programmes in selected polytechnics (YABATECH, Kaduna Polytechnic, The Polytechnic, Ibadan and others) and colleges of education.

The committee found out that many areas of study where polytechnics have continued to make impact on the national economy are not available in the universities. These disciplines, include hotel and catering management (now hospitality management), printing technology, secretariat administration (now Office Management), textile technology, fashion design and mineral processing engineering. For 15 years, the agitation for the degree-awarding status was sustained. But, the expectation of the polytechnics was dashed as government cancelled the preliminary approval three months ago. Sources said the approval was cancelled because of its cost implications. Aromolaran faulted the decision to withdraw the preliminary approval, describing it as illogical.

“Many polytechnics deserve to award degrees in their technical sectors. In fact, they should be converted into universities of technology. This will end the discrimination,” he added.

The advocates of technological training in the country did not envisage these barriers and other challenges confronting the polytechnic system when the idea of polytechnic education was conceived. Yet, it was discernable from the onset that the polytechnic was not at par with the universities. It was a new dawn when technical colleges were established to produce personnel of clerical and sub-professional grades to assist in the gradual drive for technological development.

However, some of them metamorphosed into polytechnics. The goal was “to offer society with the advantages of non-university higher education and alternative avenues to the highest level in academic and professional achievement for the large and growing army of individuals whose socio-economic, educational and personal circumstances were such that the traditional university could not suit.”

In 1990, the polytechnic system was reviewed by the Gray Long Commission on Review of Higher Education. In its report, the committee stated that polytechnic products are “support staff.” It, therefore recommended that “polytechnics should concentrate on the training of middle-level manpower (technicians and technologists) for direct employment in industry as a support for higher level manpower.”

The report added: “The fact that some countries provide 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 reason for reviewing the programmes available in Nigeria.”

The recommendations were accepted by the government.

In its remarks, the Federal Government stated that “polytechnics should concentrate on the training of technicians and technologists for middle level manpower needs of the country.”

This historical fact may have strengthened the perception of university dons about the polytechnics. Thus, many of them believe that there is no basis for comparison between the university and the polytechnic. “They operate on two different levels”, said the late Prof. Oke Akande, who taught at the University of Lagos, Akoka. In the view of the professor of education, HND is not a degree. According to him, only a university can award degrees.

“B.Sc is superior to HND. By implication, the university is supposed to be superior to the polytechnic as an institution with many experts and professionals dishing out knowledge,” the late professor said.

Academically, he said, qualified people are many in the universities when compared to the polytechnics, and experience has shown that HND holders do seek admission into the university degree programmes. “HND holders are graduates in their own areas, but they are not degree holders,” he argued.

Many university teachers agreed with Akande’s opinion. They contended that the parity battle championed by polytechnic teachers lacked merit. They pointed out that some polytechnic lecturers shy away from doctoral studies, adding that the possession of Ph.D is the limit for advancement in the university teaching cadre.

A university don, Prof. Sola Fajana, said equal treatment for teachers on both divides is untenable and an illusion. He hinged his argument on “differences in job analyses, services, work schedules and academic attainments.” Fajana, a professor of Industrial Relations & Personnel Management at UNILAG before his appointment as the Vice Chancellor, Joseph Ayodele Babalola Univeristy (JABU), Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State, opposed the polytechnic teachers’ quest for parity with their university counterparts, saying that universities are different from polytechnics. When he was the Chairman of the UNILAG chapter of ASUU, he ruled out the possibility of merging the ASUU and ASUP to form a single tertiary union – the Academic Staff Union of Tertiary Institutions; a move canvassed by polytechnic lecturers.

There is a pervading feeling of a wide gap between the university and the polytechnic among policy makers. When students of the Ibadan Polytechnic were on rampage in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State in the Second Republic, the late Governor Bola Ige brought the public perception to the fore when he addressed the demonstrating students, who stormed his Office at Agodi.

He said: “We are maintaining this polytechnic to admit you because you could not be admitted into the university. Why did you come here and not UI? If you have five credits, would you come here? You are not grateful.” The dejected students dropped their placards.

In those days, the polytechnics accepted four credits as entry qualifications for some courses. Many of them resolved to sit for GCE examination to make five credits to go to the university.

Echoing Ige, Omoniyi, who is now a banker, said the HND is no match for the B.Sc. He drew attention to the curricular and admission criteria, which he said, were lower in the polytechnic in the past. “While the polytechnic accepted four credits for admission in those days, the universities stuck to a non-negotiable five credits. If you have credits in Economics, Commerce and Accounts at O/Level, they amount to one credit at the university screening,” he added. Omoniyi also alleged that the admission process in some polytechnics were also porous in the past.

He stressed: “In the past, there were complaints that the polytechnic admission procedure has been abused as candidates secured admission through the back door. The remedial programmes opened the way. Thus, some supposedly ND holders could not go back to their schools to collect their certificates because they had not made their five credits at the SSCE. Yet, they were matriculated.”

Age long battle lingers

For decades the parity phobia has lingered in the education sector. Amid the parity struggle and competition between the university and polytechnic, the later sunk deeper into identity crisis. Dissecting the polytechnic system, the Longe Commission on the Review of Higher Education, said the identity crisis rocking the polytechnic arose from the wrong perception of their role in national development.

The confusion may have been aggravated by the relentless agitation for the elevation of the polytechnics into degree-awarding institutions. Aina faulted the clamour, saying that the polytechnics were far from reaching their potentials. But, he supported their bid for increased funding.

He said: “They have to carve their own identity and develop their own culture and image, and strive for the achievement of their goals and stop living in the shadows of the universities.

“When they reach the maturity for transformation, it will be a natural occurrence, rather than through agitation that they will offer degrees and higher degrees of their own without necessarily becoming universities.”

The last two decades have been described as the dark period in the life of the polytechnic system. Until recently, many polytechnics have derailed from their primary focus.

For instance, many of them were battling with accreditation hurdles. Tendering vital statistics, Aina observed that their development has been slow. The former administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo inherited an awful picture of the polytechnic system moving at a snail-speed.

Out of the 46 polytechnics in existence then, only 11 offered all the three engineering programmes at ND and HND levels; 17 offered engineering at ND level only, 14 did not offer any engineering programme at all; 22 offered computer studies; 24 did not offer computer studies in a world where everything is computerised and technology-driven; most diploma students were not computer literate; only three polytechnics offered courses material technology, Glass and Ceramics Technology, Wood and Paper Technology; four offered printing technology and non offered Machine Tool and Refractory Engineering.

Although efforts have been made by their respective managements to fill the glaring gaps, there is a subsisting evidence that polytechnics still suffer from inadequate funding.

What is however most striking is the gap is research activities. Aina noted that research in the polytechnic system has been very negligible. He pointed out that the money voted for the sponsorship of applied research projects by the Federal Ministry of Education, which the NBTE was meant to disbursed, was not utilised for a long time.

Although he acknowledged that individual institutions were sponsoring research activities of their staff, he said the number of such projects is few, the research is limited and, therefore, their impact is not felt. “Employers still spend a lot of money re-training graduates of our polytechnics to fit into employment,” Aina pointed out.

During the higher education summit, Yakubu also tendered a catalogue of woes. He said: “Some poorly qualified candidates were admitted due to some forms of pressure on institutions’ management and other factors. Increasing cases of fake and forged results and certificates have further exacerbated the situation.”

In the past, due to staff shortage in the polytechnics, there was the invasion of part-time lecturers, who were not committed to the cause of the polytechnic. As Yakubu put it, “it is a case of half bread is better than none.”

Alluding to the low esteem accorded the polytechnic, he said the society should be blamed, warning that “if the bias continues, technological education will be on the slide.”

No retreat, no surrender

“Efforts by concerned stakeholders to drum support for increased funding for the polytechnic have always hit the brick wall. Government has always turned a deaf ear to the agitation for improved welfare of staff and provision of adequate infrastructure, unlike the universities,” complained YABATECH ASUP leader, Adeyemi Aromolaran.

“But, under the new dispensation, we will take our battle to President Muhammadu Buhari. This administration has inherited the unfinished business of fixing the polytechnic system,” he added.

In the Seventh Senate, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, from Ondo Central District, sponsored a Bill titled: ‘Dichotomy and Discrimination between the HND and B.Sc Certificates in the Public and Private Sectors of the Economy.’ The Bill passed through the second reading. But, it could not get to the third reading and final reading before the dispensation ended.

However, a lecturer at the College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Dr. Yemi Ayeobasan, observed that the parity struggle by polytechnic teachers can only be meaningful, if polytechnic lecturers can achieve parity in academic attainment with their university counterparts.

“In the university, you are not recognised as a lecturer, unless you bag Ph.D and publish books and journals. It is either you publish or perish. Some polytechnic lecturers who are doing these are on the right path”, he said.

Another lecturer, Olaotan Kuku, said, obtaining doctorate degrees and publishing may not be enough. He said: “The only way the polytechnic can achieve parity with the university is to incorporate the university curriculum into the polytechnic curriculum so that polytechnic graduates can become masters of theory and practice.”

In Yakubu’s opinion, the problems facing the polytechnics are not beyond solution. He urged the government to beam a searchlight on the institutions. Yakubu has a three-point solution:

* The removal of the Grade Level 14 bar on holders of the HND in the public service

* An affirmative action by government in favour of HND holders whose training emphasises learning to know and learning to do rather than learning to know only

The discontinuation of the designation of HND holders as instructors and B.Sc holders as lecturers in the polytechnics, so that fresh graduates, whether holders of HND or Bachelor’s degree, should be designated ‘assistant lecturers.’

In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, degree-awarding status has been granted to polytechnics. Also, the Yabani Report has thrown its weight behind the running of degree courses in the polytechnics.

But, mindful of the original focus of the polytechnic, it also called for the retention of the core ND and HND programmes for which they were primarily set up.

According to the report, “the polytechnics should, therefore, open up avenues to the bachelor’s degree by establishing a ladder of steps towards it. The steps will be diplomas and other certificates, which are of value in themselves, but which are should not be seen as dead ends in that they cannot lead to something further.”

Based on the recommendation of the committee, not all the polytechnics are likely to run degree programmes. The committee only recommended the first four generation polytechnics for elevation into degree-awarding institutions.

They are Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, YABATECH, Institute of Management & Technology, Enugu and Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi.  The dream of polytechnic stakeholders, who have hailed the recommendations, were about to come to reality when the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan granted degree-awarding status to these institutions and some colleges of education. However, their dream was aborted, following the reversal of the approval  by the Buhari administration.

For the polytechnic system to grow and fulfill its vision and mission, it is the belief of participants at the summit that the policy and mandate of the polytechnics should be reviewed to enable them award degrees. But, there is a condition attached. According to the summit, the institutions can only become degree-awarding institutions, subject to the availability of appropriate human and material resources.

Also, the summit called for the review of the ceiling in the career progression of polytechnic graduates in the civil service. For the proper and effective coordination of the polytechnics, it supported the push for the establishment of separate National Commission for Polytechnics.

Besides, the summit also resolved that principal officers of the polytechnic should be appointed from within the system.

If all these resolutions are implemented, Aromolaran said, polytechnics will witness a re-birth and they will be repositioned for role fulfillment and excellence in national interest. .

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