In a country where policies blended with political patronage have compromised the education sector, the desire to convert polytechnics and colleges of education to universities will not only rob the country of high-quality teacher training, but also lead to the erosion of the unique identity and purpose of COEs. IYABO LAWAL in presenting shades and hues of the gale of conversion, added that the development will also facilitate a dearth of technicians and a glut of university graduates with scant technical know-how.

In February 2025, the federal government announced plans to convert polytechnics and colleges of education into universities. According to the Minister for Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) will also become a university.

Earlier on, the federal government under then-President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2018, also announced the conversion of YABATECH and Kaduna Polytechnic into universities. At that time, this was only a policy statement.
 
Since March 2022, several colleges of education and polytechnics have been converted to universities beginning with former Governor Aminu Tambuwal, who upgraded the state-owned Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, to a university after receiving the blessings of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
 
The same year, the former governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, announced the conversion of the College of Education, Agbor, to the Delta State University of Education. Similarly, former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje converted the Saadatu Rimi College of Education to a university, and Governor Seyi Makinde upgraded the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education to a university of education.

The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, and Ogun State Polytechnic have also been upgraded to universities. States like Abia and Delta have followed suit, with Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, being rechristened Delta State University of Science and Technology.  

In Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu did the same with the conversion of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, and the Michael Otedola College of Education to the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), while also converting the state polytechnic to Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH). 
 
Last June, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq signed the Kwara State University of Education Bill, establishing a university of education, and converting one of the existing colleges of education into a university of education.
 
Several other states have equally converted their colleges of education and polytechnics to universities in recent years.

Waning allure of CoEs
SPEAKING before the joint House of Representatives Committees on Education during his ministry’s 2025 budget defense at the National Assembly, Alausa explained that Nigerian students were increasingly considered unfashionable, seeking admission into colleges of education, revealing that despite budgetary allocation to the colleges, some had less than 1,000 students.
 
In this year’s budget for education, N139.3 billion was earmarked for colleges of education, and the 32 federal colleges that are in the country. Available figures make the future or continued existence of colleges of education grim.

Indeed, data from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) showed that applications to National Certificate of Education (NCE) programmes over the years have been the lowest.
  
A breakdown of the data showed that from 2019 to 2023, out of the 211,201 applications recorded for admission into CoEs, universities and polytechnics running education programmes, 198,798 were eventually admitted.
 
A further breakdown showed that in 2019, 34,138 candidates applied for NCE programmes but 71,188 were admitted, indicating that candidates without an interest in education were eventually admitted.
 
In 2020, 80,355 applications were recorded, but 49,678 candidates were admitted, meaning about 40 percent did not go through with the process, while in 2021, only 15,746 applications were recorded, but 30,731 candidates were admitted, showing that candidates without interest in education were eventually admitted.

For 2022, 52,627 candidates applied for the programmes, but only 35,466 were admitted. In 2023, 28,335 applications were recorded, while only 11,735 candidates were eventually admitted.
 
The admissions summary showed that in 2021, a total of 494,088 admissions were recorded, but only 30,731, representing 6.22 per cent, were admitted for NCE. In 2022, 684,111 were admitted, but only 35,466 were for CoE, and in 2023, 474,765 admissions were recorded, but only 11,735, representing 2.47 per cent, were for colleges of education.
 
The National Certificate of Education (NCE) admission by quota showed that in 2021, out of the 454,700 slots earmarked for colleges of education, only 30,731, representing 6.75 per cent, were admitted.
 
In 2022, with 469,125 slots, only 35,466 or 7.56 per cent were admitted, while in 2023, out of 472,200 quota, only 11,735, representing 2.49 per cent, were admitted, meaning that despite the cry for access to tertiary education, colleges of education have failed to meet their quota in the years under review as Nigerian youths continue to lose appetite for CoEs.
 
The NUC and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) are saddled with the task of carrying out accreditation in all CoEs to determine their readiness for the autonomous status of awarding degrees.

Looking in from the outside: View from Ghana
IN 2012, Ghana’s government introduced a policy to convert the country’s 10 polytechnics into technical universities. This move was aimed at tackling the persistent challenges facing technical education in that country.
 
A technical committee was formed to assess the polytechnics’ readiness for conversion based on 16-point criteria. The committee recommended six polytechnics for immediate conversion, with two more added later through executive approval.
   
The conversion of polytechnics to technical universities seems to be a strategic plan to address the challenges facing technical education in Ghana. Key issues included placement in the public or civil service and academic progression.
 
Typically, polytechnic graduates had to pursue top-up programmes at traditional universities to obtain bachelor’s degrees and secure better placement in the public sector or the civil service.
 
Earlier educational reforms didn’t lead to corresponding changes in public service regulations, thereby exacerbating the issue. Moreover, Higher National Diplomas (HND) were not accepted as entry requirements for direct master’s programmes, requiring graduates to complete top-up bachelor’s degrees, or bridging programmes first.

Where the shoe pinches
IN the last three years, about 24 polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria have been converted to universities by federal and state governments, and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) is displeased with the development. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is also not impressed with the move. They described the decision as a misplaced priority and unnecessary, and likened the conversion to “taking a step forward and many steps backward.”
 
ASUP’s National President, Kpanja Shammah, stated that polytechnics were established to produce professionals in technical and vocational education, noting that conversion of polytechnics and CoEs into universities will be like leaving leprosy to treat ringworm.
 
Similarly, the immediate past president of ASUP, Andersen Ezeibe, described the government’s action as a misplaced priority, stressing that what is imperative is to give attention to existing public polytechnics by adequately funding them, providing infrastructure, and improving staff welfare.

Ezeibe restated that polytechnics should retain their unique role in providing technical and vocational education, rather than being converted into universities.

 Also against the move is the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN).
“This conversion will not only lead to the erosion of the unique identity and purpose of COEs, which have historically provided high-quality teacher training but also threaten the very existence of these institutions,” Danladi Msheliza, National President of the association, stated.
 
According to the 2022-23 Universal Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) National Personnel Audit report, there is a shortage of 194,876 teachers in public primary schools in Nigeria. This data showed that only 499,202 out of the 694,078 teachers required at the primary school level are available, leaving a gap of 194,876.
  
The Federal Polytechnic Amendment Act of 2019, which is an amendment to the principal Act of 2004, aligns polytechnic education with modern demands, including providing full-time or part-time courses of instruction and training to produce middle and high-level manpower in technology, applied science, commerce and management, and in such other fields of applied learning relevant to the needs of the development of Nigeria in the areas of industrial and agricultural production, as well as, the distribution and for research in the development and adaptation of techniques.  
 
The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, echoed similar sentiments, when he stated that converting polytechnics to universities would degrade the former and hinder economic development.

Bugaje advocated a paradigm shift, underscoring the need for skilled manpower and technical education.
 
“While countries like China and Germany are giving priority to technical and vocational education and with China even converting universities to polytechnics because they know that is the future, we are now in the craze of turning our polytechnics to universities, Bugaje lamented.
 
“We are having a dearth of technicians while we are heading for a glut of university graduates.”  Other stakeholders, including a public affairs analyst, Jimi Disu, and an ASUU leader Prof. Anthony Umunna, also condemned the government’s action, arguing that empowering polytechnics and maintaining their unique role in the education system is crucial.
 
Proprietors of private polytechnics are unhappy too, urging the federal government to imitate China and other countries that have begun converting their universities to polytechnics.
 
“If we do not pay attention to education in technology, we will continue to be importing products from other countries and paying them money, growing their economies,” said the President of the Association of Private Polytechnics in Nigeria (APPN), Benjamin Achiatar.
 
Looking out from the inside
IN 2017, China made a major reform by converting 600 universities to polytechnics. It said the goal was to produce more graduates with technical skills and reduce unemployment. With great delight in many things Chinese, the Nigerian government and its policymakers can take a cue from China.
 
The reason for this is not far-fetched. Nigeria is rich. It is abundantly rich. It is rich in human and material resources. It is also rich in paradoxes. As endowed as it is, and as promising as it started, every step forward has resulted in five backward, those familiar with history have asserted. Its education system –particularly the tertiary education sector mirrors that unenviable reality.
In a bid to reduce the huge number of university graduates with similar academic degrees competing against one another for the same jobs, China back then announced that it would turn at least half of its public universities into institutions of applied learning or polytechnics to produce more technically-trained graduates.
 
That switch to more technical and vocational higher education was a response to university programmes producing graduates that were less relevant to the marketplace, thus leading to an increasing number of unemployed university graduates. Although China’s intention was to concentrate on boosting science and technology degrees where there was more job market demand.
 
In the United Kingdom, some higher engineering technician positions that require between four and five years of apprenticeship need an academic study to HSC/HND or higher City and guilds level. Apprenticeships are increasingly recognised as the gold standard for work-based training. There are four levels of apprenticeship available for those aged 16 and over.
  
In the United States, technical and vocational education and training provide the necessary knowledge and skills for employment, using forms of education, including formal and informal learning, and is said to be important for social equity and inclusiveness, as well as for the sustainability of development.
 
It is not too late for the Nigerian government to make polytechnics and colleges of education as “cool” if not “cooler” than universities that every youngster wants to star in.