THE Federal Government has faulted prevailing discrimination against holders of Higher National Diploma (HND), in favour of Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree holders in the workplace in the country.

Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, speaking a one-day dialogue on the future of HND in Nigerian Educational landscape, said it is wrong to discriminate against a set of people trained with the right skills to perform optimally on the job.

The National Assembly in 2021 passed the “Bill for an Act to Abolish and Prohibit Dichotomy and Discrimination between First Degree and Higher National Diploma in the Same Profession/Field for the Purpose of Employment; and for Related Matters,” and was presented to former president Muhammadu Buhari for assent. Buhari, however, could not sign the bill into law before the end of his tenure.

The bill sought to check the discrimination of polytechnic graduates from their university counterparts in employment and promotion in the workplace.

The bill also sought to end the discrimination that stakeholders in the polytechnics suffer, which for long they sought an end to.

The Minister described the topic of the one-day dialogue as thought-provoking, considering the myriad of challenges being faced by holders of HND in Nigeria, saying one could not run away from the fact that most of the challenges being faced were borne out of the wrong perception of polytechnic education by a society that values paper qualification over and above competence.

Sununu, however, observed that while holders of HND continue to clamour for better deals, he was confident that the government initiative of reforming education would yield the desired result and give all a sense of belonging.

He added this also informed the integration of the National Skills Qualification framework (NSQ) at the last meeting of the National Council on Establishments (NCE) in Bauchi.

The Minister noted that to further demonstrate faith with the national council on education resolution, the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has since issued a circular that integrated skills qualifications into the Federal Schemes of Service.

“Besides, the new Performance Management System (PMS) put together by the Office of the Head of the Civil service of the Federation is another step aimed at ensuring that rather than the possession of paper qualification, individual competences are the new parameters for assessment in the workplace,” he stated.

Sununu disclosed that the National Board for Technical Education has also recently taken a step to correct the situation by bringing to national consciousness the need to embrace the global movement for skills acquisition by HND holders who must take one skill based programme to make themselves relevant in the society.

He charged the participants at the dialogue to come up with reasons that will not only change the age-long belief on the allege superiority of other qualifications over HND, but show that Nigeria, more than ever before, needs HND holders for national development.

Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education, Professor Idris Bugaje, speaking in the same vein lamented what he described as unwarranted discrimination against holders of the Higher National Diplomas in Nigeria.

Bugaje said the dialogue was apt as it would foster an opportunity to address pressing issues that had persisted for decades.

Also, the President, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics, Philip Ogunsipe said the discrimination was basically a function of societal acceptance of HND.

Ogunsipe said for the problems to be solved, the discrimination in the bill should be taken care of before being assented into law.

“Once the bill is passed and the discrimination in the HND programme is resolved and finally passed into law, we will not have any challenge with this age-long problem,” he said.

He also explained that the polytechnics sector must think outside the box and find a way of having programmes exclusively run by polytechnics.

He charged the NBTE to strengthen its supervisory role, noting that infrastructures in some polytechnics were in an awful state and needed urgent attention.

“The process of accreditation of programmes should be strengthened to provide the necessary and required manpower for the growth and development of this country. The NBTE must strengthen its supervisory role to do this,” he added.

President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Shammah Kpanja said the discrimination is not only on students or academics but affects the sector in its entirety, explaining that if the polytechnics must be attractive, the transition of HND to BTech must be welcomed.

He, therefore, said that the Nigerian Polytechnics must offer BTech strictly for HND students while also noting that the certificate must be specialised. (Nigerian Tribune)

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