NBTE boss decries lack of admission spaces in polytechnics, other institutions

OFFICIALS of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the regulatory body for polytechnics and other technical institutions in the country have lamented the scarcity of places for students seeking admission in these institutions.

The heads of the various technical institutions and other colleges met with NBTE officials in Kaduna yesterday to find a solution to the problem of limited spaces for admission of students and how to expand the infrastructures of the tertiary institutions.

The NBTE Executive Secretary, Dr. Mu’sauda Adamu Kazaure who delivered a speech on “The Importance of Carrying Capacity in Determining Streams of Programmes in the Polytechnics and Other Similar Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria,” said that with estimated population of about 170 million, Nigeria has only 99 polytechnics, 35 colleges of education, 26 colleges of health sciences, 24 specialized institutions, 128 innovation enterprise institutions, 73 vocational enterprise institutions and 171 technical colleges, noting that, “this number of educational institutions would seem grossly inadequate considering the unprecedented level of demand for higher education in recent times.”

According to him, teeming numbers of Nigerian youth can hardly matriculate due to inadequate spaces in these institutions, which can “only accommodate about a fraction of the students seeking admission.”

Kazaure also highlighted other factors that contributed to the rising demand for tertiary education in the country, which included “population explosion, expansion of basic and secondary education, and the number as well as rate of growth of students that desire higher education, among others.”

He said: “It goes without saying that the situation will worsen in soon when the products or graduates of the Universal Basic Education Scheme (UBES) begin to enter higher education institutions.”

Stating the need to expand the capacity of tertiary institutions, Kazaure argued that, “carrying capacity means that students are admitted in programmes of study based on available facilities, such as adequate lecture rooms, well stocked libraries, good staff/student ratio, laboratories, workshops, equipment etc.” “This policy is aimed at ensuring quality instructions.

The challenge associated with the need to comply with carrying capacity includes limitation of access to higher education. Institutions must not exceed their carrying capacity in line with Basic Minimum Standards (BMAS).”