By Cross Udo, Abuja
Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) yesterday raised the alarm that polytechnic education is facing an existential threat as a result of the policy of the government.
ASUP claimed that some of those appointed by the Federal Government as rectors are people who do not have the prerequisite qualifications to occupy such positions.
Briefing journalists in Abuja, the union lamented that many young people are no longer interested in going to polytechnics because of the disparity between Higher National Diplomas (HND) offered by polytechnics and Bachelor degrees offered by universities.
ASUP President, Mr Anderson Ezeibe, at the briefing to herald the union’s national delegates conference coming up Wednesday (today), said the current bill before the National Assembly which indicates an underwhelming 7.8 per cent is provided for the education sector, implied that the country is further away from a solution to the underfunding in the sector.
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*Accuses FG of appointing unqualified persons as rectors
Ezeibe further said there was confusion in the polytechnic system as many have been operating without the full complement of their governance structures since June 2023, while unqualified and incompetent persons are being appointed to run some of the institutions.
He further said that the government’s decision to dissolve the governing councils of all federal polytechnics in the country despite the certainty of tenure of three years guaranteed by the Federal Polytechnics Act (2019 Amendment) has left the institutions in deficit of the required governance structures for their smooth operations.
According to him, “The decision of the government to buy more time for the unfit persons to see out their illegal terms as rectors of these polytechnics in the guise of an appeal process is immoral and unfortunate.
“The disregard for extant laws in the appointment of principal officers in these polytechnics by the Federal Government has emboldened different state governments to tow the same path as several state governments are in the business of violating their laws in principal officers’ appointment processes.
“The Scheme of Service for Polytechnics has been undergoing review since 2017 without any conclusion in sight. The implication is that there is no uniformity in the application of standards on issues around duty prescription, career progression, and cadre delineation in the sector.
“This chaotic situation has prevailed for six years only because of several attempts by persons without the requisite knowledge to insert provisions unknown to academics into the new scheme of service.
“The Nigerian Polytechnic System remains the only arm of tertiary education in the country operating without a dedicated commission. Polytechnics in Nigeria remain in the irregular mix of other sub-tertiary level education institutions totalling over six hundred with the adverse effect of inadequate regulation for the polytechnics.
“It is in this light that we welcome the decision of the government to include the establishment of a National Commission for Polytechnics in the Roadmap for the Education Sector 2024 – 2027 in the hope that such shall see the light of the day.”
ASUP further demanded the release of owed promotion arrears; the unconditional release of the eight months owed salaries of university staff in the country, as well as a return to the table of renegotiation to enable a proper renegotiation of the ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement, amongst others.
