The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Dr Anderson Ezeibe, has described the tertiary education system in Nigeria as one that cannot stand global competitiveness.
Ezeibe, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent in
Abuja on Sunday, also faulted the decision of the Federal Government to stop
polytechnics from awarding degrees.
The ASUP president described the decision as discriminatory
while adding that the carrying capacity of Nigerian universities is not enough
for the number of degree-seeking candidates.
He said, “All over the world, institutions that meet the
curriculum, manpower and infrastructural demands for the production of
graduands in any class of certification, whether degree, diploma, or other
sub-degree certifications are allowed to run such programmes, irrespective of
the name of the institution. Yet in Nigeria, our indolent officials continue to
deploy retrogressive tools like these misplaced directives to underdevelop
tertiary education in the country.
“The directives are discriminatory, as no one has asked
universities that are currently awarding diplomas to stop. This unfortunate
discriminatory disposition is consistent with the government’s stance on
nurturing the HND/degree dichotomy, which has left millions of young Nigerians
depressed and with low self-esteem. This is unfortunate.”
Ezeibe maintained that degree-awarding status was not and
could not be the exclusive preserve of universities
He continued, “Degree-awarding status is not and cannot be
the exclusive preserve of universities, even in those countries where we run
for loans. The western world has since moved on from such conservative
thoughts, and polytechnics are awarding degrees up to postgraduate levels in
such climes as long as the requirements for such are met.
This is destroying intellectual adventure and competition in
the tertiary education space and is even undermining the university system, as
seen in the strict rules concerning curriculum development.
“Our tertiary institutions are not responding to national
needs and global trends due to the overbearing disposition of the government in
the name of supervision and regulation.
“The government has not come out to say that these
polytechnics (who were accredited in the first place following due diligence)
are not meeting up with the curriculum, infrastructural, and manpower demands
to run degree programmes. This underlines our position that the directive is
not guided by any form of objectivity or driven by national interest.
“The Federal Polytechnic Act (2019) Amendment has given
legal backing to polytechnics to produce graduates in the high-manpower
category. So are we saying that producing degree holders falls below a high
level of manpower development?
“We are restating and will not back down on our position and
demand that Nigerian polytechnics that meet up with the requirements in
manpower, infrastructure, and curriculum should be awarding degrees, as this is
the surest way to abolish the age-long HND/degree dichotomy in the country, and
this demand is in the national interest.”
He argued that the Nigerian university system could not cope
with the surge of young Nigerians searching for degree certification, while the
reverse was the case with the polytechnic system.
“If the polytechnics are granted degree-awarding status, the
picture will be different, as the space and access will be enlarged to
accommodate such Nigerians without sacrificing the niche of the polytechnics in
the area of technological education.
“Officials of the Federal Ministry of Education should leave
their comfort zones and be ready to engage productively in the national
interest on the subject rather than hide their indolence under the guise of
supervision and keeping to obsolete and now irrelevant standards. They must
come to terms with the realities of global trends and national manpower
demand,” he added.
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