Top-up Scheme Beyond Your Jurisdiction, NBTE Replies NUC
The National Board for Technical Education has cleared the air over its proposed “Top-Up” degree programme in foreign offshore accredited universities for Nigerian graduates of the Higher National Diploma in polytechnics, saying the initiative is entirely “beyond the jurisdiction of the National Universities Commission.
The Executive Secretary NBTE, Professor Idris Bugaje, stated this in a letter to the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, in response to questions bordering on the newly initiated HND Top-Up Program using offshore credit transfer admission, a statement by the Board’s spokesperson, Fatima Abubakar said on Monday morning.
On Saturday the NUC, in a strongly worded statement, urged the NBTE to stay put on its plan to introduce degree conversion programmes for HND graduates of Nigerian polytechnics. The NUC’s acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, in the statement, had noted that the NBTE was acting beyond its mandate.
Earlier, this newspaper had reported that the NBTE announced a partnership with foreign universities where HND graduates could convert their diplomas to degrees through a one-year conversion course, following the dichotomy which has continued to exist between graduates of universities and polytechnics.
Nigerian HNDs are much respected globally. Many European countries give them direct admissions for Masters. Last year, a shining example was Miss Islamiyat Ojelade, HND Distinction in Science Lab Technology (Biochemistry) graduate from the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, who last year received PhD admissions and Scholarships from seven top US Universities without the BSc. and not even MSc. Let us, therefore, start respecting our HNDs here at home and stop this discrimination by NUC and others with this mindset.
