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Rector urges education minister to avoid closure of tertiary institutions

By Tunji Omofoye, Osogbo
18 November 2015   |   12:32 am
IF rapid education development and stability in the system are to be achieved, then the constant closures of tertiary institutions as witnessed by the past administrations must be avoided.

adamuIF rapid education development and stability in the system are to be achieved, then the constant closures of tertiary institutions as witnessed by the past administrations must be avoided.

This was the admonition to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu by the Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, Patrick Hussein, while addressing reporters as part of activities for the Ninth Convocation of the institution.

Hussein urged education minister to ensure that education sector does not witness crisis leading to closure of tertiary institutions during his tenure, noting that whenever schools are closed to academic activities, previous gains of having the students in school are usually lost before they are back on campus after every closure.

He said frequent closure of higher institutions has become a serious threat to the development of education, urging the new minister to see it as a challenge that the current leadership should avoid.

He said the main agenda for the new helmsman at the education ministry must be how to engender good leadership and foster understanding between the ministry and leadership of various tertiary institutions.

To him, enthroning peaceful and harmonious relationship between unions in various schools and the ministry is imperative, saying that lack of understanding in the past had put the two parties on edge, while the system and students were at the receiving end.

Hussein said those in academic environment most times tailor their plans after whatever people at the helms of affairs are doing and called for governance with human face and respect for law to gain the trust of the populace.

On dichotomy between degree and Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates by employers, Hussein said polytechnic education and its products would only face discrimination from people that are yet to have full understanding of what that form of education stands for.

Although he conceded that there had been a disconnect between what poly education ought to be and what it is, he, however, noted that the management of the institution has been able to identify the point of disagreement and fixed it by ensuring that all students learn a vocation regardless of their field of study.

Rather than being in competition, Hussein said HND and B.Sc certificate holders are meant to complement each other to enable the society benefit from knowledge acquisition deposited in them to raise the stake of development in the country.

He observed that the collapse of many industries owing to poor power situation was responsible and further slowed down demands for HND graduates.

He said: “If power is fixed and industries are back to their best, poly products will be in more demand. But those running polytechnics must adhere strictly to the goals these institutions are established for.”

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