FG receives report on HND, Degree dichotomy

The Federal Government on Friday said it would address the issue of dichotomy between HND and university degrees by implementing the recommendations of the technical committee on the issue set up in April.
The supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, made the pledge when he received the report of the technical committee on the removal of ceiling on career progression of HND holders and dichotomy between HND and university degrees.
Wike said: “Today’s event represents a significant milestone in the effort of government to respond to the public outcry on the disparity between holders of the Higher National Diploma and university degree qualifications, which had persisted from colonial rule.
“The report will be accordingly forwarded to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for immediate action.
“It will not be like other reports.
“One thing we should know is that when government comes up with a position paper, that will be the final decision.”
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics embarked on industrial action since October 4, 2013 and one of its key demands was the removal of the dichotomy.
The minister said a 12-man committee, headed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, was constituted by the Federal Government and inaugurated to address the issue.
According to him, the committee’s terms of reference is to review the curriculum of the HND and introduce a bridging programme that will pave the way for HND holders to reach the highest grade level in the public sector.
Wike said the committee was also to review the contents of the HND to be equivalent to Bachelor of Technology, which could be awarded by polytechnics.
He said: “In particular, the committee called for the strengthening of the National Board for Technical Education so that it can continue with the review of the curricular of the polytechnic sector and bring it in line with global and industrial standards.
“The committee identified the imperative for changes to be made in the classification of HND holders in the Scheme Of Service as a first step to opening the career ladder to enable them to reach the maximum grade level in the civil service.”
According to the minister, the issue of extending the mandate of polytechnics to award degrees was also considered by the committee which, however, stressed the need to maintain standards by not creating two different B.Tech degrees.
He said the committee considered it more beneficial to synchronise the B. Tech curriculum by the NBTE for polytechnics with the B.Tech degree approved for universities by the National Universities Commission to avoid further dichotomy.
Wike appealed to the striking polytechnic lecturers to call off the action in the interest of the country as the government was doing its best to resolve all contending issues.
The President of ASUP, Dr. Chibuzor Asomugha, acknowledged the action as a step forward.
Asomugha said: “The union thinks the parties are making some kind of progress.
“At least, it is a step forward, depending on how fast the government will act on this report.”
The president, who said there were some other issues in the report that had not been fully resolved, however, expressed the belief that more work would still be done on the report.
The Chairman of the committee, Dr. McJohn Nwaobiala, explained rthe easons for the committee’s recommendations and expressed the hope that the contending issues had been squarely addressed.