From the Executive Secretary of the National Board For Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Bugaje, came a passionate appeal to governments in the country to stop converting polytechnics into universities, a thing that is now becoming fashionable. Prof Bugaje made the appeal at a retreat for the governing councils and principal officers of federal polytechnics organised by the NBTE, in collaboration with the Committee of Federal Polytechnic Rectors. He spoke on the theme: ‘Improving Polytechnic Administration; The Role of Governing Council And Management’.
Prof Bugaje who lamented that the country was still converting polytechnics into universities despite having over 200 universities said “If you convert a college of education into a university, you are upgrading it. If you convert a polytechnic, you are degrading that institution. So we need to stop this craze of converting polytechnics into universities.”
We agree with the NBTE boss. Polytechnics are established to train technical middle level manpower while universities are degree awarding institutions. There are about 152 polytechnics in Nigeria, owned mostly by the federal and state governments, as well as some individuals and organisations, as against over 200 universities that are owned likewise. We also have many monotechnics.
Of course, we cannot dispute the probable need for more universities despite what seems a mushrooming of universities in the country. But then we do not have to kill polytechnics to achieve that objective. Both serve different, even if complementary purposes.
Perhaps we need to take a cue from China that converted about 600 universities to polytechnics in 2017 because, as Prof Bugaje noted, “China knows the value of technical education and the value of skills because they want to be on top.” This was just some four years ago. Yet, China’s economic transformation began specifically in 1978. The country must have observed some lacuna in its educational system, despite its greatness and opulence, to take a decision to convert universities into polytechnics, so as to position itself for even greater accomplishments.
Apparently, this decision must have been the product of some research efforts. Whilst some people may argue that we don’t have to copy China blindly, yet we need to interrogate the basis of the craze in Nigeria for converting polytechnics into universities. We know we are a nation that does not value research. So, the only plausible reason is just the need to have universities for the paper certificates that we so much cherish but which has not helped us much as a nation.
We must retrace our steps to change the narrative. According to the NBTE boss, “If Nigeria wants to lead Africa and wants to be among the top 20 countries in the next 20 to 30 years, we must change our attitude towards Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).” The way out is not to convert polytechnics into universities. As a matter of fact, what we must do is to strengthen polytechnic education by addressing the major factors inhibiting its effectiveness and efficiency. These include, corrupt practices, poor corporate governance, governing council and management power-play, conflict of interest and dearth of local and multinational manufacturing industries to employ TVET, among others.
There is no doubt that the state of many polytechnics in Nigeria today is depressing. But that sorry state is not peculiar to the polytechnics; it cuts across all facets of our lives, including education generally. As a way out, Prof Bugaje has recommended allocating at least 20 per cent of the country’s budget to the education sector. Even though this falls short of the 26 per cent recommended by UNESCO, it is still an improvement on the present paltry allocation of about 10.79 per cent of federal budget in 2015, about the highest until then. Even then, 50 per cent of whatever is allocated to education should go to TVET, up from the present 20 per cent, because of its capital intensive nature.
The government would do well to look into these suggestions with a view to adopting at least some, if not all of them. This may be a tall order for immediate implementation, though, given competing demands for available resources. Perhaps the place to start is in the prompt release of the N15 billion the Federal Government promised for the revitalisation of facilities in the public polytechnics and judicious use of same.
For Nigeria to take its rightful place in the comity of nations, we must reposition the education sector generally, and particularly the polytechnics, as quickly as possible. It is by so doing that we can rewrite the narrative of the country’s technological development and make up for lost time.