I wish the Federal Government is sincere. Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, the Minister of Education during Olusegun Obasanjo’s Administration already gave us a blueprint on how to end this discrimination but what happened? Her recommendations where thrown out by the degree-holders that dominated National Assembly.
That is why Kaduna State Polytechnic, (Kadpoly) and Yaba College of Technology, (Yabatech) are not City Universities today and polytechnics are not awarding B.Tech Degrees as recommended. The only shortcoming of her recommendations is the scrapping of the HND programme without providing a suitable means for the holders of the certificate to obtain bachelor’s degree.
This committee can correct that by recommending a one-year top-up degree programme for holders of HND certificate as against the ridiculous 3-year Direct Entry programme a HND holder must pass through to obtain a bachelor’s degree. This with the other recommendations of Dr. Ezekwesili will put an end to the discrimination.
I must however point out that the HND holders/polytechnic students shouldn’t roll out the drums yet because what is at stake is beyond the powers of the Executive government. The real power to achieve all these rest with the National Assembly because this is not just a policy decision, but an Educational Reform requiring a strong legislative backing.
Contributor: Adegbenro Kayode.
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