In recent times, polytechnics which offer Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) alongside other technical institutions, have come under threat with some state governments converting them to universities, to meet up with the demands of students craving for degree programmes.
The trend has become worrisome with stakeholders in the sector calling for a reversal to save Nigeria from problems of poor skilled manpower for the industrial and economic activities of the country.
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TVET in Nigeria aims to assist the federal and state education authorities in their effort to revitalize, reform and expand the provision of skills, vocations, science and technology to meet the nation’s present and future socio-economic needs.
Meanwhile, the law establishing federal polytechnics stated that the function of each polytechnic is to provide full-time or part-time courses of instruction and training to produce middle and high-level manpower in technology, applied science, commerce and management.
However, Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu while speaking at a Retreat for Chairmen of Governing Councils and Principal Officers of all Federal Polytechnics organised by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in conjunction with the Committee of Federal Polytechnic Rectors (COFER), said it is noteworthy to take appropriate steps to ensure that the function is explored.
The retreat had ‘Improving Polytechnic Administration: The role of Governing Councils & Management’, as its theme.
However, with the conversion of polytechnics to universities and the dearth of technical training institutions in the country, Nigeria will likely fail to address some challenges which TVET is meant to solve.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, said TVET at the moment is under siege and universities are swallowing polytechnics and nobody is doing anything.
He said some polytechnics are promoting that culture and it is something they must address.
“Polytechnics and universities are parallel and we are not feeders, the College of Education (COE) feeds the university system. If you convert COE to university, you are upgrading it but if you convert polytechnic to university, you are degrading it and that is the position,” he said.
He further said: “For every university graduate in engineering you will require five engineering technicians and technologists from the polytechnic but in Nigeria, the reverse is the order. We have 200 and a lesser number of polytechnics and this is not going to help the Nigerian economy.
“We must stop this craze of converting polytechnics to universities and in fact, I advocate the reverse –converting some of those universities that are not performing to polytechnics,” he said.
Bugaje maintained that for Nigeria to lead Africa and be among the top 20 in the next 20 to 30 years, “we must change our attitude to TVET. We should be proud of our polytechnics and the TVET sectors and promote them and do the right thing to move them forward.”
Meanwhile, the minister, who was represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, David Gende, said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the rapid development of the education sector, with particular emphasis on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
He said one of the strategies the ministry is adopting in addressing the issues and challenges of the polytechnic sector is the encouragement and support of periodic fundraising initiatives, especially through the launch of endowment funds, patents, consultancy and commercialization of Research and Development as viable options for revenue generation.
Also, the Chairman of COHEADS and Rector of Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbese, Engr. Dr. Olufunke Akinkurolere, said the federal government needs to invest more in TVET rather than converting polytechnics that are not enough to universities.
She said there is a need to establish more technical schools to address the needs of the nation’s economy.
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