A circular was issued on March 26, 2018, which conveyed the decision of the National Council on Establishment (NCE) on the approved entry point of SGL 08 for Higher National Diploma (HND) holders in the civil service.
The above decision by the NCE has ended the dichotomy which restricted the polytechnic graduates to a particularly Salary Grade Level (SGL) in the civil service.
However, the dichotomy will still remain if Polytechnics have not been upgraded to B.Tech awarding institutions. Until then, the monster called dichotomy will still be fully alive.
Below are some of the views of people on HND vs BTech
According to a report by NAIJ.com, they reported that Dr. Ramon Adedoyin, the executive chairman of the Polytechnic, Ile-Ife, had called for the outright scrapping of the Higher National Diploma (HND) programme, and its replacement with a Bachelor’s degree in Technology, as obtainable in advanced countries.
Adedoyin made his comments during a chat with newsmen; against the backdrop of the federal government’s recent removal of the dichotomy between the holders of HND and university degrees.
Also, the Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education NBTE, Engr Dr. Nuru A. Yakubu has defended the planned introduction of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degrees in the nation’s polytechnics, saying what the nation needs are graduates with both the intellectual capability and hands-on skill for technological development.
Premium Times reported on March 8, 2017, that The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has appealed to the Federal Government to upgrade all polytechnics to universities of technology to end discrimination against technological education in the country.
Putting the comments made by NBTE Secretary, Mr. Adedoying and ASUP side by side, it clearly shows that it is until Polytechnics start awarding BTech the discrimination will still remain.
Some questions that arose in my mind when this announcement was made were:
(1) Will a graduate with HND be offered admission directly for masters in Universities in Nigeria without doing PGD?
(2) Will Universities in abroad recognize HND certificate for Postgraduate studies (Masters)?
(3) Is there a law to compel private companies in Nigeria accept to implement this new development?
(4) Will there be a review of curriculum in Polytechnics?
As it stands, the latest development favors people intending to work or already working in the civil service.
Finally, there are still a lot of things FG needs to look into to enhance the full implementation like making Polytechnic BTech awarding institutions.
