By Gabriel Dike
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) has reiterated that the 15-day ultimatum issued the Federal Government to stop the implementation of the new Scheme of Service in federal polytechnics still stands.
The National Executive Council NEC of ASUP gave the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) ultimatum on July 8 to suspend the implementation of the scheme of service document pending amendment of the identified contentious provisions to be in tandem with global standards.
According to the union, this was necessary having established that the contentious document grossly fall short of acceptable standards.
The position was stated at a briefing during an emergency Zonal Executive Council (Zone C) of the union on the contentious scheme of service recently released by NBTE held at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH).
The Zone C Coordinator, Adekunle Masopa, said the union observed inclusion of retrogressive provisions for polytechnic graduates and the workforce as well as the sector in general in the document.
Highlighting the union observations, Masopa said the provisions contained in the document was not a true reflection of what was prepared by stakeholders in the sector to the various topics of deliberations convened and overseen by the regulatory body.
“That is, NBTE, in the course of developing the scheme of service doubts in the procedure deployed in the approval for the scheme of service and usurpation of the power of the governing councils of polytechnics as employers of staff in polytechnics.
He said Section 3 (1) of the Federal Polytechnics Act 2024 as amended in 2019, which confers the governing councils with corporate status, continuous succession and common seal showing some good degree of autonomy.
“The inclusion of sub tertiary level education qualification, that is, National Skill Qualification (NSQ) has a compulsory requirement for career progression of academic staff in polytechnics is absurd and derogatory to the sector.”
In addition, he said the NSQ deviates from global standards by retaining unacceptable titles for lecturers and librarian cadre in the polytechnic sector.
The zonal Coordinator also explained that the controversial document also by its contents has further strengthened the discrimination against holder of Higher National Diploma (HND) in a system that produces them in favour of Bachelors’s degree holders.
“This is obvious in the said document with respect to disparity in entry point and the progression bar for HND and BSc holders in both teaching and non-teaching categories.
“The document also contains provisions which unduly and unjustly extend the duration for attainment of the peak in career movement of academic staff from 18 years to 26 years as against what is obtainable in other sub sectors of education in Nigeria,” he stated.
ASUP also explained that the contentious document also confirmed the efforts of NBTE to deliberately de-market polytechnic by signing an unwarranted Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria with respect to the status of Pharmaceutical Technology.
“This programme was accredited by NBTE in polytechnic at HND level in which a large number of individuals are currently holders of the certificates and with this NBTE has definitely put the fate of this category of individuals in jeopardy and discouraged further enrolment on the programme.
“The agitation of our union on this contentious document is genuine effort to protect the polytechnic sector.”
The union also condemned the negligence of NBTE in its regulatory responsibilities where there are infractions in the appointment of principal officers at Osun State Polytechnic, Iree where the provisions contained in the template for such appointment in Nigeria Polytechnics developed by NBTE was jettisoned.
“The NBTE should as a matter of regulation deploy appropriate instruments to look into the infractions in the appointment of principal officers at Osun Polytechnic, Iree.
The union also called on the federal ministry of education to work with the timeline as contained in the Roadmap for Nigeria Education sector on the establishment of a commission for the polytechnic and implementation of the dual mandate structure for polytechnics to enable polytechnics commence running of degree programmes.
In his remarks, the National President of ASUP, Kpanja Shammah said the 15-days ultimatum will elapse on Sunday, 21st July and afterwards the union will convey a congress in which they will decide on what next should in case no response from the government.
On the future for polytechnic education, he said there is future for HND if dichotomy is removed, ‘if discrimination is removed; what is stopping people from coming to study in polytechnics is because by the time they finish, when they want to work, they are being discriminated, they cannot rise beyond certain level, they are even employed in certain areas that are derogatory. But if that dichotomy can be removed, discrimination can be reduced and polytechnics can move beyond where they are now,” he stated.