Polytechnics, monotechnics, and other such institutions are no longer permitted to provide degrees, according to the Nigerian government.
In a circular dated December 1, 2022 and with the marking TEB/PRO/E/12/Vol.11/132, the National Board for Technical Education informed the heads of the concerned institutions of the government’s decision.
Newsmen on Tuesday was able to secure a copy of the paper that was signed by Ogoh Ngbede, the director of the board’s department for polytechnic programs.
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Ngbede highlighted the dismay of the Federal Ministry of Education at the growing number of tertiary institutions offering programs for which they were not initially intended in the circular.
However, he said that the government had given the impacted schools four years to graduate the most recent group of pupils who had been accepted for such programs.
The circular read in part, “Polytechnics and other technical institutions in the country should immediately stop admitting students into degree programmes.
“Similarly, polytechnics and allied institutions awarding Nigerian Certificate in Education should restrict themselves to technical courses.
“However, already admitted undergraduates for these programmes should be allowed to round up the programmes into which they are already admitted.
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“Institutions have been given a period of four years (up to 2026) to graduate their last set of students for such programmes.”
Over the years, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has urged the government to let polytechnics to confer degrees.
The awarding of degrees by polytechnics, according to the union’s national president Anderson Ezeibe, would put an end to the current division.
He said, “HND is no longer as attractive as it used to be to Nigerian youths because of the age-long dichotomy.
“Policymakers have made it a rule that once an individual has an HND, he cannot attain the peak of his/her career, then why are they continuing to force it on people, why don’t they phase it out and replace it with Bachelor of Technology?”
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He asserts that Nigeria’s polytechnic system has the necessary infrastructure and personnel resources to grant Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in technology.
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