Professor Idris Bugaje, Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, decried the government’s rate of converting existing polytechnics into universities on Tuesday.
He stated this at a retreat organized by the board in collaboration with the Committee of Federal Polytechnic Rectors for the chairmen of governing councils and principal officers of federal polytechnics.
Speaking on the topic of ‘Improving Polytechnic Administration; The Role of Governing Council And Management,’ he bemoaned the fact that Nigeria has over 200 universities but is still converting the few existing polytechnics.
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“When you convert a college of education into a university, you are upgrading them,” he explained. Converting a polytechnic degrades the institution.
As a result, we must put an end to the trend of converting polytechnics into universities.” As we all know, China converted 600 universities into polytechnics in 2017 because China understands the value of technical education and the value of skills in order to compete.
“If Nigeria wants to lead Africa and be one of the top 20 countries in the next 20 to 30 years, we need to change our attitude toward Technical and Vocational Education and Training.”
He also stated that the current state of Polytechnics in Nigeria was discouraging and that all hands must be on deck to reposition the sector as soon as possible.
“Without mincing words, the following are identified as key issues impeding the growth of Polytechnics in Nigeria: corrupt practices, poor corporate governance, governing Council and management power play, power tussle, conflict of interest, and so on,” Bugaje said.
To address some of the challenges, he emphasized the need for at least 20% of Nigeria’s annual budget allocation to the education sector with 50% of the annual education budget allocated to TVET, rather than the current average of 20%, because TVET is capital intensive.
Declaring the retreat open, David Gende, the representative of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, charged Polytechnic administrators to always be aware of current laws, government policies, government white papers, circulars, gazettes, and other relevant documents that will assist them in making decisions without undue interference in the day-to-day operations of the institutions.
He stated that the ministry was “pursuing the release of the fifteen billion naira for the revitalization of facilities in Nigeria’s public Polytechnics, review of the Scheme of Service, and resolution of the issue of CONTISS 15 migration.”
Additionally, the federal government is effectively engaging staff unions on their demands.
“All of this is aimed at improving the quality of research, teaching, and learning in the sector,” he added.