By AHMED KAIGAMA

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), has rejected the Federal Government?s planned outsourcing of quality assurance in the polytechnics.

Mr Lumpye Simji, ASUP Zonal Coordinator, Zone B, said this at a news conference on Friday in Bauchi.

He said the union had issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government, warning that the move posed a serious threat to academic standards and institutional integrity.

Simji described the policy approved by the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), and implemented through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), as ethically flawed, economically unsound, and detrimental to the core mandate of the NBTE

?Our union is totally against outsourcing the core mandate for which NBTE was established to charlatans.

?Quality assurance in polytechnic education is not a function to be traded out to unqualified vendors. It must be handled by professionals who understand the dynamics of technical and vocational education,? he said.

According to Simji, the policy undermines the credibility of certificates issued by polytechnics, weakens academic oversight, and compromises the future of technical education in the country.

He said that lowering the bar for monitoring academic quality amounts to institutional sabotage and a betrayal of public trust.

Mr Hussaini Yaro, ASUP Chairman, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, said their members would withdraw their services if the issues remained unresolved in compliance with directives of its national body.

?In defending quality, we are defending the future of polytechnic education in Nigeria. If the 21-day ultimatum expires without meaningful action, a nationwide strike will follow,? Yaro said.

The union on Aug. 14, issued a 21-day ultimatum to the federal government to address unresolved issues threatening the polytechnic sector.

It listed critical matters including the non-release of the Peculiar Academic Allowance circular, unpaid arrears of the 25/35 per cent salary review, delayed infrastructural funding, non-implementation of promotions, and continued discrimination against HND holders. (NAN)

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