Recently, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has raised concern regarding the increasing transformation of polytechnics to universities within Nigeria.
The union wants a dual mandate model polytechnic which would award a Higher National Diploma (HND) and a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree simultaneously.
This stance was made known to the public by ASUP National President Mr. Anderson Ezeibe during an interview. He stated that the change of polytechnics to universities demonstrates a certain level of myopia.
He stressed that as clearly set out in the national policy on education, polytechnics were established for certain reasons, and asked if those reasons had become out of date or irrelevant to the national economy.
Ezeibe stated, “If the need for the polytechnics is still there as we believe, the direction of thought should be to empower the polytechnics to meet their mandates rather than playing the ostrich in the name of conversion to universities.”
If such a dual mandate approach is taken, the union trusts that polytechnics would be able to award B.Tech degrees while simultaneously fulfilling their primary role.
This method seeks to integrate the HND and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) qualifications that have traditionally been regarded separately, making sure that graduates from both sectors are treated equally in the job market.
Ezeibe further argued for the strengthening of polytechnics to confer Bachelor, Masters, and Doctorate degrees in technology.
He pointed out that several polytechnics have the needed facilities and expertise to deliver these programmes without any university affiliations.
He said, “Policymakers have made it a rule that once an individual has an HND, he cannot reach the zenith of his career. Why don’t they scrap it and replace it with a Bachelor of Technology?”
The union also showed confidence that the current National Assembly and the Presidency will, through some legislation, harmonize the long standing differences between HND and B.Sc qualifications.
Ezeibe admitted this gap had been worked on in the past many times to no avail but remained optimistic this time the bill to abolish the discrimination will actually be implemented.
The position of ASUP brings to the fore the state of polytechnics in Nigeria and reveals the sheer need that exists for a deep review of the country’s educational system, particularly focusing on the capacity of polytechnics to cater to modern industrial and economic needs of the society while still keeping the fundamental tenets of the polytechnic.
