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THE 11 PROBLEMS OF POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

THE 11 PROBLEMS OF POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

THE 11 PROBLEMS OF POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

 

Education contributes to economic growth, financial growth, and overall self-development. Education is also the panacea to poverty.

A polytechnic is a technical institution offering post-secondary technical education programmes leading to the award of diplomas or certificates such as the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND). Polytechnic education is a means of producing various levels and kinds of manpower required for the industrial, economic, and social development of a nation. While polytechnic education has contributed to the nation’s development, its problems can not be overemphasized.

 

There are many problems in polytechnic education in Nigeria, and most of these problems remain unresolved till date. Even as several articles and publications have been written for these problems to be addressed, unfortunately nothing has been done. As a student seeking admission, a polytechnic graduate, or a polytechnic student, you deserve to know the problems of polytechnic education. And what are they? They are as listed below:

1. HND vs. BSC DICHOTOMY

Graduates with HND (Polytechnic Education) have faced discrimination in the country, which has made many of the polytechnic students/graduates look down on themselves, thus discouraging other people from acquiring polytechnic education due to the discrimination and dichotomy between the two certs (HND and Bsc). Some private companies do not employ HND holders, and if they gain employment, they might not be promoted like their colleagues who have a BSC (University Education).

 

In June 2021, the Nigerian senate passed a bill abolishing HND and BSC dichotomies. The bill was forwarded to President Buhari for assent, but till this moment, the bill is yet to be implemented, especially in the private sector. This is the major problem of polytechnic education in Nigeria.

 

2. PROBLEMS OF CONTINUOUS PROGRESSION.

After spending a good five years in the polytechnic to get your HND certificate, only to be told that you are not eligible for a Master’s degree until you enroll for your Post Graduate Diploma (P.GD), which sometimes costs an additional one to two years. This problem has changed the mentality of Nigerian youths because they see polytechnic education as a waste of time. Isn’t polytechnic education a waste of time? Imagine spending five years on campus, plus another one year of compulsory service (NYSC), and having to do your PGD before you can qualify for a Master’s degree. This is unlike universities that offer continuous progression (Masters degree and Doctorate degree) for their products.

 

In the year 2021, a story made the headlines that polytechnic graduates could now go for their Master’s degree with their HND results; but the news is completely false and untrue because, till this moment, no university in Nigeria admits HND graduates for Master’s degree programmes with their HND results. Indeed, as of the 202/2023 academic session, many polytechnics in Nigeria are still offering P.G.D programs. So if truly HND graduates qualify for a Master’s degree without P.G.D, then all these schools selling the forms and running the program should have stopped.

 

These are the problems of polytechnic education in Nigeria, which are difficult to solve because some people are benefiting from it. Indirectly, how? Some schools run PGD, HND conversion, and TOP UP programs to generate revenue; if these programs are discontinued, their IGR may suffer.

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3. POLYTECHNIC STUDENT PAYS ACCEPTANCE FEE THREE TIMES.

The payment of the acceptance fee thrice by polytechnic students is also one of the problems of polytechnic education. The students are made to pay acceptance for the ND, HND, and PGD programmes. As a result of this, some students find it difficult to further their education due to a lack of funds arising from this problem. The number of graduates in Nigeria would have increased if this problem was addressed. Most schools charge a huge amount of money for acceptance fees and school fees for the first year (ND1/HND1), which means that if you are an ND graduate and want to further your education in the polytechnic, you would have to start looking for money again because it’s just as if you are starting afresh. This isn’t the same as with university education, where you only pay acceptance fees once.

I learnt the Nigerian senate passed a bill to scrap the acceptance fee, but the bill wasn’t implemented.

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4. ADMISSION.

The admission requirements for polytechnic education are too low, and I think this is one of the problems with polytechnic education. Most candidates aspire to university education, but when they don’t meet the required aggregate, they switch to polytechnic because it’s for all. You can easily gain admission to a polytechnic without  JAMB, and this sometimes causes downgrades in polytechnic education. I understand clearly that polytechnic education and university education are entirely different. However, just because polytechnic is for technical education doesn’t mean that the education sector should make it look cheap.

 

Another problem with admission into polytechnics is the 2.50 policy as a criteria for admission for HND. Imagine spending close to 3 years on your National Diploma (ND) but graduating with PASS (CGPA below 2.50) only to be told that you would have to wait for another 2years before being offered admission because you graduated with PASS. This is sad, isn’t it? That means if you graduated with PASS at ND level, it may take you close to 7 years to acquire your HND certificate. The annoying part is that most universities in Nigeria do not give admission to direct entry candidates with PASS (CGPA below 2.50).

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In fact, lower credit scores are excluded. Isn’t polytechnic education a waste of time and money? With all the stress and effort spent in the polytechnic, the system does not benefit the products. I have visited most of the polytechnic websites in Nigeria. A few of these institutions listed that they don’t give admission to candidates with CGPAs below 2.50, and if they do, you would have to present your years of industrial work experience. If you visit some polytechnics and check on the HND students, most of them have become old because of this admission policy, as some had to wait for more years to further their education when their mates in the universities might have graduated. This problem has caused frustration among polytechnic students. because you could graduate with a upper ND credit but a lower HND credit. So what is the solution here? To be honest, the solution is what polytechnic students have been agitating for, both ND and HND  should be completely abolished in favor of B.Tech, so that students will spend 4years instead 5.

 

I was offered admission to the polytechnic in 2013, and in the year 2015, we got news that ND/HND had been abolished. We were so happy that year because we thought our set would be the last to experience ND and the first to witness B.Tech. Unfortunately, years later, we are still working on this same issue.

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5. TRANSITION FROM POLYTECHNIC TO UNIVERSITY.

The government’s upgrading of polytechnics to universities is unfair and a threat to polytechnic education. This implies that polytechnic education isn’t the best and is inferior. Our leaders are oblivious to this. Every year, the senate keeps passing a bill to upgrade polytechnics to universities, which is not supposed to be. I did some research and discovered that there are polytechnics in other countries. In fact, countries like India use “polytechnic universities”. That is, something like “Federal Polytechnic University of Lagos, Osun State Polytechnic. University.”

 

Instead of upgrading the universities, the government can rename them “Polytechnic University” and award them a B.tech degree. The upgrade of a polytechnic to a university is not an achievement nor a welcome development because the two education sectors are trained differently. Until the Nigerian government and leaders realize this, this will remain a problem in polytechnic education.

 

For example, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu has been upgraded to a university, which means no more polytechnic programmes and also there won’t be direct entry admission like in polytechnics where you can easily gain admission with only your O’Level result. The cut-off marks will also increase, and you can’t go back for your HND, which means you will have to start working on admission to other polytechnics.

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6. OUTDATED CURRICULUM.

Most of the polytechnic curriculum is outdated. I have some the polytechnic curriculum for the National Diploma (ND), which I downloaded from the NBTE website, and I must confess, these curriculum haven’t changed for years. In fact, some lecturers still brag about these curriculums, which need to be updated because the world is moving beyond expectations. Anyway, thanks to the current leadership of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr. Bugaje, some adjustments are being made, and some of the adjustments are the recent renaming of the purchasing and supply department, the introduction of EED, and psychometric studies.However, the board needs to do better.

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7. UNEMPLOYMENT.

Polytechnic certificates are prone to unemployment (not in most cases). To be sincere, employers of labour most of the time would pick a degree holder over an HND holder. As a polytechnic education reporter and through my experience over the years, I have received complaints from a few graduates who said that their certificates weren’t recognized by employers. Why is this happening? Well, let’s accept that that isn’t true, but I can confirm to you that some polytechnics in Nigeria do not recognize other polytechnic certificates. Imagine graduating from a private polytechnic only to be told that “one federal polytechnic” doesn’t accept candidates from “so-so schools.”  For this problem to be solved, the board responsible for polytechnic education, NBTE, must ensure that there is no segregation in polytechnic education.

 

What I do tell my colleagues in the polytechnic is that, you should not rely only on your HND certificate, but try as much as possible to further your Post Graduate Diploma (PGD), which is just a 1/2 year programme. I believe with your PGD certificate you will be at the same level as a first degree, so it will be difficult for employers to trash you.

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However, if there is no more money to spend, never look down on yourself. Some employers don’t care about your results. They are interested in your ability to defend that paper. You have no issues, but note that this is one of the problems of polytechnic education in Nigeria. You can’t be employed as a lecturer with your HND certificate, but can be employed to lecture with a university degree(not in most cases).

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8. UNQUALIFIED STAFF.

Polytechnics sometimes recruit unqualified staff, which indirectly affects the education sector. I did research in 2018 and learnt that some polytechnic lecturers are HND holders. Although There are new developments as the lecturers have begun to further their education, but that doesn’t change the fact that polytechnic education is staffed by unqualified staff. Besides, you will hardly see professors in polytechnics, unlike universities where there are many qualified professors and PhD holders.

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9. NEGATIVE SOCIETY ATTITUDE TOWARDS POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION.

There has always been a negative attitude towards polytechnic education in society. They see polytechnic education as inferior. Many admission seekers will only choose polytechnics when they fail to secure admission to a university. Sometimes when I browse the internet with the keyword “polytechnic”, the reviews, comments, and people’s attitudes towards polytechnic education are negative, and when I try to defend polytechnic education, I don’t get the positive results as expected. This may be connected to the foundation and structure on which polytechnic was built.

 

Well, The truth is, polytechnic education still remains the best when it comes to technical education because it deals with 60% practical, but society does not really see the beauty of polytechnic education. Now think about this; polytechnic students are made to undergo a compulsory 4-month industrial work experience (SIWES) and another one-year of compulsory industrial training to expose them to their field of study, yet society doesn’t see this beauty. Polytechnic students are the most qualified considering the training they went through, but society does not see this; rather they purge negative attitudes towards polytechnic education.

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10. FUNDING.

Polytechnic education lacks adequate funding unlike like its university counterpart. You may wonder why ASUP has always threatened to go on strike? This might be as a result of poor funding by the federal government. 

 

In April 2021, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) declared an indefinite strike over the non-release of a 15 billion naira revitalization fund for polytechnics. Polytechnic education suffered a setback as a result of poor funding by the Nigerian government, and this is also one of the problems of polytechnic education. I have been to some polytechnics in Nigeria. Some of the classrooms are dilapidated with poor hostels and buildings.

 

11. POOR ACCREDITATION STATUS.

Some polytechnics failed to meet accreditation criteria due to their poor status in laboratories, ICT, and research libraries. Last year, POLYTV listed some of the polytechnics in Nigeria that are running non-accredited programmes. There are over 50 illegal polytechnics in the country. Some of the students of these polytechnics are unable to secure a job, secure admission or go for NYSC as a result of the accreditation problems.

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THE WAY FORWARD /RECOMMENDATION

It is of no doubt that all these aforementioned points are the problems of polytechnic education in Nigeria. However, for these problems to be solved, the following criteria must be taken into consideration:

  • The law for the establishment of polytechnics has to be reviewed, that is, the discrimination and dichotomy in polytechnic education.
  • The Polytechnic Curriculum should be visited and updated from time to time so as to ensure that qualified graduates are produced.
  • Recruitment of qualified staff. The government must ensure that only qualified teaching and non-teaching staff are recruited, as the reverse may have a negative effect on polytechnic education.
  • The ND/HND program should be abolished. The National Diploma and Higher National Diploma should be phased out in favor of the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) This will save time and money and, at the same time, end discrimination between HND(Polytechnic Education) and Bsc(University Education)
  • Polytechnic Should be allowed to run up-to PhD level. This means after the Award of B.Tech, graduates will have the opportunity to  continue their progression up-to PhD level in the polytechnic without crossing to university.
  • Ensuring adequate funding for polytechnic education Adequate funding of polytechnic education and promotion of staff when due.

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In conclusion, this article is not meant to discourage polytechnic education but to point out the problems of polytechnic education in Nigeria and the way forward. Polytechnic education, without a doubt, is the best. However, these problems can not be overemphasized. What do you think of polytechnic education? Let’s hear your opinion. Drop your comments.

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POLYTV Admin A.k.a 9jaPoly is A passionate Reporter that provides complete, accurate and compelling coverage of both anticipated and spontaneous News. 9jaPoly Started his career as a blogger and campus reporter in 2016. He loves to feed people with relevant Info. He is a polytechnic graduate (HND BIOCHEMISTRY). POLY TV ADMIN is a relationship expert and life coach. Apart from blogging, He love watching movies and meeting with new people to share ideas with. Add 9jaPOLY on WhatsApp +2347040957598 to enjoy more of his Updates and Articles.

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