ASUP opposes establishment of commission for technical education
21 January 2025 |
3:25 am
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has rejected the proposed Commission for Technical and Vocational Education. ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja, said in Abuja that the roles spelt out in the commission are within the purview of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), established in 1977.
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has rejected the proposed Commission for Technical and Vocational Education. ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja, said in Abuja that the roles spelt out in the commission are within the purview of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), established in 1977.
He added that what stakeholders in the technical higher institutions are seeking is a separation of tertiary education institutions from the regulations of the NBTE.
“Nigerian polytechnics (and monotechnics) represent the tertiary education institutions under the regulation of the NBTE. With the exponential growth in the number and profile of Polytechnics over the past four decades, as well as the explosion in the number of institutions under the regulatory regime of the NBTE, our union has been making demands for the establishment of a separate Commission to regulate the tertiary education institutions found in the current mix of over 700 institutions under the NBTE,” he explained.
Kpanja added that a new commission for polytechnics and other technical institutions at the higher level will not only ensure improved regulation of these tertiary institutions but also align with the practice in the other two tertiary education sub-sectors in the country.
He said: “We therefore threw our weight in support of the recent efforts of the National Assembly to establish a National Polytechnics Commission through a bill in the House of Representatives (SB 673) sponsored by Hon. Idu Igariwey. This effort is coming after several failed legislative efforts in the past on the same subject.”
He disclosed that efforts at establishing the new commission are currently awaiting final reading and passage at the House of Representatives after stakeholders expressed their full support for the bill during the public hearing in August 2024.
The ASUP chief maintained that the bill had the support of the Federal Ministry of Education as the establishment of the Commission is captured in the approved roadmap for the education sector covering 2024 to 2027.
He stated that ASUP was surprised to know that there are moves to establish a commission for technical education. His words: “We view this as a mere change of name without the desired impact on the regulation of Polytechnics in Nigeria. We also see this as self-serving and a distraction capable of undermining the laudable efforts of the House of Representatives on the same subject.
Our Union is, therefore, reiterating our support for the unbundling of the current mixture of institutions under the NBTE and the extraction of tertiary institutions from the mix to a dedicated Commission for effective regulation.”
ASUP stated that it will continue to explore all acceptable avenues to bring the passage of the bill to fruition.
The union charged the Federal Ministry of Education to maintain a consistent position on the issue, having supported the bill during the public hearing and
avoiding the distraction of what it termed a ‘mere change of name’ which the proponents of the new commission represent.
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