Replace Polytechnic Certificate With University Certificate – Polytechnic Head Begs FG

Cursory: Dr. Taofeek Abdul-hameed, Rector of Federal Polytechnic Ayede Ogbomosho, urges President Bola Tinubu to replace HND with B.Tech to benefit underprivileged students nationwide. He calls for expediting the bill’s approval and commends the Federal Government’s Student Loans initiative for facilitating education access.

The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ayede Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Dr. (Engr.) Taofeek Adekunle Abdul-hameed, has urged President Bola Tinubu to consider replacing the Higher National Diploma (HND) with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) to benefit underprivileged students nationwide. Speaking during a live radio program in Ibadan on Saturday, Abdul-Hameed emphasized that a consortium of Rectors has advocated for this change to eliminate the HND-B.Tech dichotomy, asserting that both Polytechnic students and lecturers are equally competent as their university counterparts.

He emphasized the importance of technical skills and entrepreneurship in driving the nation’s economic development, citing examples from China and the United Arab Emirates, where the economy thrives on the capabilities of its citizens. Abdul-Hameed highlighted the Polytechnics’ focus on practical technical skills and entrepreneurship, noting the scarcity of white-collar jobs and the need to equip students with skills for self-employment post-graduation.

According to him: “Entrepreneurship and employability have been our core focuses due to the fact that jobs aren’t anywhere. Unlike universities, we cannot be giving out A4 paper diplomas without a Skill. Institutions that lay emphasis on entrepreneurship, you will see many of their graduates have skills they rely on rather than looking for white-collar jobs.”

“The way out is for the president to assent the bill and cancel the HND to B.Tech programme or else the disparity will continue. We hope that President Bola Tinubu signs the bill soon since last administration failed to do so.”

Abdul-Hameed urged President Tinubu to expedite the approval of the bill to replace HND with B.Tech to address the existing disparity. He also commended the Federal Government’s initiative on Student Loans, which provides financial assistance to indigent students.

He stressed the importance of low tuition fees and interest-free loans to facilitate access to education and skill acquisition for students, enabling them to repay the loans after graduation.

“As long as the students are getting a loan from their various institutions, they should be acquitted with skill acquisitions so that they would be able to pay back after 2 years or graduation.”

“I want to believe that 2yrs is sufficient for students, even if it is not, the government does not make it mandatory. The loan can be renewed or extended,” he said.

Credits: ALLSCHOOL, Vanguard

Read Also: Fee hike: Law graduates beg FG for downward review

ALLSCHOOL TEAM