The Nation Newspaper

Tag: dichotomy

  • Polytechnics/university dichotomy

    Sir: Education is the foundation of every nation; no aspect or level of it ought to be neglected so as to engender all round national development. A polytechnic in Nigeria today offers about 70% of technological programmes which are veritable tools for nation-building and development. On the contrary, polytechnic graduates over the years have suffered serious neglect by the federal government and the labour market.

    Polytechnic graduates cannot proceed directly on a master’s degree programme whether of distinction grade or not; he or she has to be subjected to a minimum of another one year of postgraduate diploma course before proceeding directly to master’s degree as against the university B.sc / B.Eng holder proceeding directly to master’s degree programme. Employers believe polytechnic education is not for those who are intelligent enough to do academic work.

    Polytechnic students are also made to serve or work under university graduates as head of department or units as the case may be. Also, in the civil service, while the university graduate is employed as an administrator, the polytechnic graduate is employed as a Higher Executive Officer.

    Government attitude towards polytechnic education is discriminatory in favour of university education. This is evident in the kind of pronounced infrastructural development work you see in the universities compared with the polytechnics.

    One may be right to see the ill-treatment given to polytechnic graduates by the government, employers of labour and general public as gradually ushering them into extinction, and this has to be prevented immediately, because if they go into extinction, it means that the country will be set back technologically in a manner that all the perceived merits in the arguments and in the eyes of those who see the disparity as wholesome and appropriate will not be justifiable.

    Urgent pragmatic steps need to taken to correct the disparity; individual abilities should be emphasized i.e. what the individual can do rather than names of certificates/academic institutions. Polytechnics should be adequately funded for practical teaching, learning, research and development, infrastructures.

    The ill-treatment should be immediately stopped, because a dispirited person(s) cannot be adequately focused to give his/her best particularly knowing that he/she is not appreciated by his/her immediate society and this will only continue to negatively impact on our dear nation. It is not a taboo for polytechnics and university graduate to be evenly respected.

     

    • Edwin Ovie Eriye,

    Lagos.

  • Ending BSc. and HND dichotomy

    The report that President Muhammadu Buhari is set to end the disparity between  holders of university and polytechnic certificates has excited graduates and students of polytechnics, who believe the government needs political will to end the dichotomy. TEMITOPE YAKUBU (Federal Polytechnic in Ado-Ekiti) reports.

    Last week, the media was awash with a statement by the Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Dibu Ojerinde, that President Muhammadu Buhari would implement a policy to end the dichotomy between university and polytechnic certificates.

    The news excited many polytechnic graduates and students, who would benefit more from the policy if implemented. But, some of them expressed reservation on the president’s will to enforce the decision to end the discrimination against holders of Higher National Diploma (HND).

    Some say Ojerinde’s promise could be another political statement to make the Buhari administration popular among students, noting that it was not the first time such promise has been made.

    In 2005, polytechnic students were excited when former President Olusegun Obasanjo vowed to end the disparity between HND and Bachelor’s degree to make all graduates have the same job prospects. But, 10 years after, the discrimination is yet to disappear.

    To draw attention to the plight of polytechnic graduates, the Academic Staff of Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), two years ago, downed tools for 11 months, demanding, among others, an end to the disparity between HND and Bachelor’s degree. In response, the Federal Government, on May 6, 2014, inaugurated a 12-man technical committee to review the policy, which hindered career progression of HND holders in the civil service.

    Former Supervising Minister of Education Mr Nyesom Wike, while inaugurating the committee, said there would be a review of HND curriculum to pave the way for its recognition in the promotion of civil servants and to design a programme to enable the polytechnics award Bachelor of Technology degree. The report has been on the shelf.

    But a bill to abolish the dichotomy and discrimination between BSc and HND degrees, sponsored by former Senator Ayo Akinyelure, is yet to be passed. With these impediments, many HND holders believe Buhari may lack the will to end the discrimination.

    ASUP Internal Auditor Mr Joel Fagbohun said the union condemed the idea of setting different cut-off marks for polytechnics and universities in Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). He said: “The UTME cut-off mark for admission into universities is 180 while that of polytechnics is 150. Is that a signal of the government’s readiness to end the dichotomy?”

    Mr Tunji Owoeye, ASUP chairman, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti (ADO POLY), said political will is needed to end the discrimination. He said: “It is obvious the past administrations lacked the political will to implement various committee reports on the dichotomy. Students are disillusioned even before they get into the polytechnics. Nigeria’s technological success depends on investment in the polytechnic education.”

    Aminat Adesanya of YABATECH
    Aminat Adesanya of YABATECH

    Owoeye said polytechnics should be allowed to award degrees up to doctoral level to check the exodus of brilliant polytechnic graduates and teachers to universities.

    Aminat Adesanya, a Computer Science student at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), said it would be in favour of students if President Buhari ends the disparity between the two certificates.

    She said: “In YABATECH, we have good facilities and well-equipped laboratory, which many universities lack. In practice, polytechnic students are the best. If the discrimination is stopped, it would also favour students.”

    Adetoun Ajagunna of Rufus Giwa Poly, Owo
    Adetoun Ajagunna of Rufus Giwa Poly, Owo

    According to Adetoun Ajagunna, a ND 1 Mass Communication student of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic in Owo (RUGIPO) in Ondo State, graduates from polytechnics will do better than their counterparts in universities.

    If the discrimination is ended, Olayemi Gbolagade, a ND II Quantity Surveying student of ADO POLY, said admission pressure in universities would reduce.

    Olayemi Gbolagade of Fed Poly, Ado-Ekiti
    Olayemi Gbolagade of Fed Poly, Ado-Ekiti

    Nurudeen Ogunnusi, a graduate of Statistics from the Federal Polytechnic in Ilaro (FPI) in Ogun State, said: “The rating of HND as subordinate degree is gradually becoming a thing of the past, because of the performance of polytechnic graduates in the industry. Government should review Act setting up polytechnics and build another institution for middle-level manpower.”

    The Senate President of National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), Lukman Salahudeen, said the discrimination must stop to reduce unemployment. He said: “We should hope the government is serious this time around. Some companies will even place vacancy adverts for BSc and B-Tech only. It means no polytechnics graduates should apply. This can compound unemployment crisis facing the nation. I will be glad if HND can be converted to B-Tech to end the discrimination between university and polytechnic degrees.”

     

  • Degree/HND dichotomy ungodly, says Senator

    Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Kabiru Marafa, has described as “ungodly” the dichotomy between the university degree and Higher National Diploma (HND) in the job market.

    Marafa said the disparity, especially in pay package, existing between degree and HND holders is unconstitutional and should be discontinued.

    The Zamfara Central Senatorial District lawmaker spoke in Abuja against the backdrop of the attempt by the Senate to bridge the gap between the two qualifications.

    He insisted that the Senate Committee on Education should do the right thing by ending the age-long discrimination against HND holders.

    The disparity, he said, has hindered HND holders from reaching the peak of their careers. He particularly bemoaned the discrimination against HND holders from getting to managerial positions in the civil service.

    The lawmaker noted that senators openly displayed their bias against HND during the second reading of “A Bill for an Act to abolish and prohibit dichotomy and discrimination between first degrees and the HND in the same profession and field.”

    He said: “I want to commend my colleagues for allowing the bill to pass the second reading, but I want the Senate Committee on Education to know that God will definitely ask them some questions if they allow the discrimination to continue.

    “They know in their inner most minds that this barrier at the topmost level against the HND is wrong, ungodly and they cannot defend it.  This is a battle that must be fought. I will support all the polytechnic graduates to ensure that the discrimination and injustice against them come to an end.

    “The ungodly thing we are doing in this country is to say that the HND holder cannot be promoted beyond a certain grade level and nobody can defend that wicked injustice.

    “I was discriminated against when I was at the Kaduna Refinery. At the entry point at that time, a lot of my colleagues were frustrated after they were not promoted to certain levels.  They were told point-blank that they could not proceed beyond certain stages until they acquired additional qualifications. That happened after they had probably spent four years of training and excellent performance on the job for over 25 years.

    “I started working with the Kaduna Refinery in 1985 and my colleagues that are still there now are still being told they could not be managers. This is ungodly, it is unconstitutional.”

  • Onshore/Offshore dichotomy: Northern elders slam Adoke

    Onshore/Offshore dichotomy: Northern elders slam Adoke

    Northern elders are angry with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed  Adoke, for declaring  the debate on the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy as closed.
     The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) yesterday said the Attorney General has no right whatsoever to say Nigerians cannot debate any issue of interest to them.
    “Who is he to say that the debate on onshore/offshore dichotomy is closed? Who is he to say that the debate on onshore/offshore dichotomy is closed? By who?” spokesman for the NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi fumed yesterday in Abuja in a reaction to the minister’s statement.
    Speaking at the  valedictory session in honour of retiring Justice Francis Tabai of the Supreme Court on Thursday, Adoke had warned the public to avoid overheating the polity through re-opening the debate on the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy in the allocation of revenue.
    But speaking to reporters on the sideline of the inaugural session of the Constitution Review Committee set up by the NEF in Abuja, Prof. Abdullahi lashed out at the minister: “Is he saying that Nigerians have no right to speak on issues which onshore/offshore dichotomy is, for him to say that the debate is closed? On what grounds?
    “It sounds stupid to me. It is a matter of continuous discussion and debate. He has no right to say that the matter is closed.”
    On the forum’s Constitution Review and Political Committees, the former  Presidential Adviser on Agriculture said the North is looking primarily at resource control, sovereign national conference and onshore/offshore dichotomy.
    He said: “Primarily, the issues the North is looking at are  resource control,  sovereign national conference as advocated and then  onshore/offshore dichotomy. These are on the front burner of the constitution review. And the legal think tank here would review those positions and know how the North would approach it.”
    On the 2015 presidential election, he said: “For us here, primarily we are involved first in securing the unity of our people. If our people are not safe and are not secured, 2015 will not make any meaning to us in this group because we believe that a united North will now be able to talk politics with sense.
    “We are already bedevilled by a lot of crises, security challenges, unemployment and poverty.  So with all these ones, I don’t think we have the luxury to be discussing 2015 for now at this level. We believe that if we are organised and united, we may be able to know where the balance stands in 2015.
    “The question is that the issue of politics as we understand it, particularly when it comes to elections, there are rules for elections and the elections will be contested on the basis of rules. So, let it be. And that is what it will be in 2015.
    He noted that the political committee set up by the NEF “is supposed to look at the politics of Nigeria and see how the North will fit into it or how Nigeria will fit into it in 2015.”
     On agitation for state police, he said: “The agitation for state police already has gathered momentum and it is clear that there are certain past leaders of this country that already are championing it. Most of the southern governors are pro-state police and majority of our governors here are not disposed to state police.
    “For us in the committee here, we are going to weigh the propriety of that vis-a-vis national interest. In fact, at the inaugural speech here, the chairman insisted that the North must not do anything that will be unjust to anybody living in Nigeria. We believe in the unity of this country.”
    He added: “To me personally again, the issue of zoning should be thrown away. Contest should be open, and so be it. The question of allocation of positions based on certain region should be thrown away and let people be free to contest.”
    He described the practice of the presidential system in Nigeria as expensive, but he did not say whether the NEF would be calling for a change of the system during the on-going constitution review process.
     “As a group, we feel that we have embarked on a change that has brought disaster to Nigeria. The presidential system of government is a major disaster to Nigerians,” he said, adding: ”I have never seen governance as expensive as what we have on ground today, and even if we are copying the presidential system from the United States, we are bad copiers of the system that operates in the United States today.
    “For example, a senator in Nigeria earns $1.5 million while the President of the United States earns $400,000 a year. So, something must be wrong in the manner in which we understand the presidential system of government, especially if we are copying from the United States.
    “But talking about cost of governance from the little project I am trying to undertake now, I have reached a stage where I can pronounce that the cost of governance under the presidential system that we have is three to four times more than the parliamentary system which we threw away in 1979.”
    Those who attended the meeting included the Convener, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule; Chairman of the session, Paul Unongo; Ustaz Yunus Usman, SAN; Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu; Senator John Wash Pam; Air Marshal Al-amin Daggash; Alhaji Lawal  Yusufari; Barr. Ibrahim Umar; Barr. Salmanu Rilwanu; Barr. Abdulfatah Bello and Barr. Solomon Dalong.
    Others were Barr. Mustapha Bashir Wali; Barr. Simon Orkuma; Gen. Paul Tarfa (rtd); Alhaji Sanni Zango Daura; Barr. R.O. Yusuf; Barr Usman Abashiya; Barr Muhammed Sani Katu; Barr. Moses Tagifek; Kalli Gazali; Capt. Paul Thaha’al and Barr Muslim Maigari.