The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, Dr. Olusegun Olanrewaju Aluko says the unhealthy rivalry between University and Polytechnic is eroding the essence of Polytechnic education in Nigeria.
Aluko spoke at a press conference to herald the 40th Anniversary and 19th Convocation ceremony of the institution. He insisted that majority of the Polytechnics in Nigeria have lost focus and the essence of their establishment.
According to him, Polytechnic and University graduates are not supposed to compete for the same employment if not for the dearth of industries and manufacturing companies in Nigeria which he said had further contributed to the unemployment rate in the country.
“The way Polytechnic education is structured is for the graduates of Polytechnics to be able to use the skills they have acquired to create wealth for themselves but Nigeria is just dodging but we will still come back to it.”
“We are talking about unemployment but when we say unemployment, the percentage of those that are unemployed are those that are university graduates and the problem is that they have no skill.”
“Majority of the small scale entrepreneurs in the country today are graduates of the Polytechnic and that is the essence of Polytechnic education.”
“In the past, people don’t work in government establishments, all of them wanted to work in factories and industries because they know that when you are working in the industries, you earn more than when you are working with government.”
“But the problem of Nigeria is that all those industries have died so where we (Polytechnics) are not supposed to be competing, we are now competing but I know that Nigeria will rise again and that is when Nigeria will realise the essence of Polytechnic education,” Aluko said.
Speaking on HND and BSc dichotomy, Aluko said, “Polytechnic graduates should not lose sleep over this because with the skills they have acquired in the Polytechnic coupled with entrepreneurial education, there is no way they won’t find something doing.”
