Affected Officers Spoil for a Showdown By OHIA ISRAEL The prolonged injustice against those who hold Higher National Diplomas has long been a big issue in the country. As it stands today there is disquiet in the Nigeria Customs and this paper gathered holders of the HND certificates have a lot of complaints against the Nigeria Customs Service. The victims complained that even though they have spent more years in a tertiary institution, they are still below degree holders in the condition of service. “This disparity skewed in favour of university degree holders is not justified”, the HND holders insist. For instance, while the HND holders gained employment into the Customs Service on Grade Level GL 7, the University degree holders’ entry point is GL 8. Another issue raised is that while polytechnic graduates can get promotion up to GL 14, their degree holder colleagues can rise to GL 17 and even become the Comptroller General of Customs, CGC. And as a result of this grade level disparity, the salaries paid to HND holders are smaller compared to the ones paid to their bachelor’s degree holders counterparts. DESERT HERALD learnt that the biggest of them all is the discrepancy in the plan of duties between them and university graduates; while degree holders are given executive/superintendent cadre assignments, the HND holders are treated as minors and posted on assignments like guard duties. Furthermore, the OND officers who pleaded not to be mentioned, claimed that they are on guard duty in the residence of senior officers, as it was found out that one of them was guarding a retired customs officer in one of the Northern states. “Though in terms of allowances, we enjoy same allowances with our Bsc/BA counterparts, but in terms of schedule of work, we do jobs meant for First School Certificate holders,” one of them bemoaned. Another issue is allowing GL7 officers to wear uniforms designated for officer cadre unlike degree holders. They can only wear officers’ uniform when they get to GL 8, this paper discovered that it is only those in Abuja who are allowed to wear uniforms meant for officer cadre, in other parts of the country HND holders have to wear uniforms meant for the rank and file. Moreover in a bid to obtain degrees in order to improve their careers after graduating from the polytechnic, the management of the Customs Service still makes it impossible for them to convert to officer cadre. “ Many of us have gone to get university degrees, a few even have Masters degrees but what they tell us is that there is no vacancy,” one of the aggrieved men said. They are demanding that they are put at parity with their colleagues who are degree holders in line with a circular of the National Board for Technical Education which they provided. According to a circular dated February 13, 2009 signed by A.B Kurawe for the executive secretary and addressed to the Comptroller General of Customs, the board in response to a previous memo from the Customs stated, “the entry point for HND holders into the public service is CONTISS 7 (GL 7) and they progress to a terminal point of CONTISS 12 (GL14).” But investigations by this medium indicate that the complaining customs men might be fighting a difficult battle as the disparity between HND and bachelor’s degree holders is not peculiar to the Customs Service but a public service policy that affects the civil service and even the military and security services. To some civil servants the issue of disparity is “a policy issue that is fundamental and has existed for a long time and is rooted in the curriculum and philosophy behind setting up polytechnics and universities. For instance a civil servant who refused his name in prints said that: “In the public service the management level or decision making level is the directorate level between grade level 15 and 17 that is why a university graduate can reach grade level 17. But the polytechnic graduate who is trained to be a technician can only rise to chief technical officer or grade level 14, an assertion many people in the polytechnic system do not agree with this. For instance a professor and in one of the nation’s polytechnic says the disparity is unfavourable to hi-tech development and shows a lack of seriousness on the part of government. He backed the allowing of polytechnics to award degrees, observing that countries like South Korea, India and other technology conscious nations have done so. “I think that’s the solution to it. The proper solution if they can be realistic is to allow the polytechnics to start awarding degrees, allow upward mobility of the staff, provide them with the facilities without losing site of technical and vocational content of the polytechnic education,” he said. He lamented: “We train people in the polytechnic and at the end of the day, they acquire a PhD and leave the polytechnic and join the university system because he cannot be a professor here and that is why we are advocating that polytechnics, as they are should all be made polytechnic universities as they are in other countries of the world.” It will be recalled that the issue of disparity between HND and degree holders have always been an issue in the public service and actually received presidential attention during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. According to a close source in the federal civil service, “Obasanjo tried to get the National Council of Establishment to bring the two cadres at par. However, the council made up of the head of service of the federation and the head of service of all the states, reportedly came up with the resolution that the issue had to do with the curriculum in universities and polytechnics and could not be tampered with.” The source further said that the council advised, however, that the syllabus of some polytechnics could be structured so that they start awarding degrees. This would have enabled Ordinary National Diploma, OND, holders to study for the award of degrees instead of the HND. It was also gathered that the council specifically suggested that for two polytechnics and four colleges of education. These polytechnics are Yaba College of Technology, Kaduna Polytechnic and Auchi Polytechnic. The colleges of education are the Federal College of Education, Kano; Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State; Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Imo State; and Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Ondo State. Moreover since there have been contradictory signals from the government about its true position as it will be recalled that in May 2009, shortly before Sam Egwu, then minister of education at an interactive meeting with members of the Senate committee on education said that the federal government had commenced the process of eliminating the disparity between HND and degrees. According to Egwu the government was concerned about it because it was affecting morale and productivity in the public service. “We are addressing the problem, because when a staff with HND does not earn the same recognition that his counterpart from the university earns, it creates problems,” he said. But this hope was dashed in August 2010, when Ruqquayat Rufa’i, the education minister, told journalists that the issue of eliminating the disparity was just a proposal that was being worked on and that it might take years to bring it to the federal executive council for approval. “The planned conversion of these institutions is just the recommendation of the Implementation Committee on Guidelines for Degree Awarding for Colleges of Education and Polytechnics, which submitted its report on Tuesday, July 20. There is still a lot of job to be done before we can present it for approval by the Federal Executive Council,” she said. The minister said that among the issues that still need to be worked out are the restructuring of syllabus; reconciliation of academic profile of members of academic staff and the status of existing students of the institutions. However, there have been indications recently that the committee saddled with working out these issues might have submitted its report to the minister and that the education ministry is putting finishing touches to a document to be presented to the federal executive council soon. According to a source in the federal ministry of education, it had been decided that as a pilot project, Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology will be immediately recommended to FEC for upgrade into degree awarding institutions. The source said that issues such as curriculum and service conditions of HND holders have been worked out and that the institutions would be called university of technology. For example, in Britain, academic degrees were validated for polytechnics as far back as the ’60s. Over the decades, polytechnics in Britain have all upgraded to universities and the disparity between degrees and HNDs, referred to as “binary divide” was abolished in 1992 by the Further and Higher Education Act. However according to an education analyst in a phone chat with this reporter on this issue, “There is no doubt that the industrial growth of any nation depends on the level of the educational advancement and development of its middle level manpower. There are many polytechnic students with the Higher National Diploma (HND). Their presence in any economy ensures its growth and development and by implication its national development. The consequence of its absence in any nation is lack of development or slow national development.” To him he has this to say “This is exactly the case and problem with Nigeria. Even though Nigeria has many polytechnics that produce these middle level manpower, its economy has refused to grow. This is attributed to the disparity and controversy between the HND and Bachelors degree, which resulted in many students opting for the university education, which is purely academic and theoretical as against polytechnic education which is practical and pragmatic. The idea is that with bachelors’ degree they will acquire better jobs and earn more salary. This tragedy has resulted in the mass exodus of students from the polytechnic to the university thereby creating a vacuum hard to be filled, in the nation’s labour market, all due to disparity and controversy surrounding the HND and Bachelors degree. This has done more harm than good to the economic development and educational advancement of this nation. It has generated also a lot of controversy than progress in the educational system. For a long time, this controversy has been a thorn on the flesh of Nigeria’s educational system. It is high time a lasting solution is given to the hydra-headed problem. Elsewhere there may be a big gap and difference between the polytechnic education and that of the university. But here in Nigeria the differences are not conspicuous. These little differences therefore, should not be the reason for the disparity between the two systems. It should also not be a reason for the disparity or controversy between the HND and Bachelors degree.” Even though he agrees that the two are not the same, he has this to say on these issues also; “In the first place, it is important to note that the two systems are not the same and can never be the same. One is also not an alternative to the other. Polytechnic education is purely a techno-scientific education. This is in contrast to that of the university that is predominantly academic. The meaning of this is that while polytechnic education concentrates on technical cum scientific education and at the same time providing the nation and economy with the much needed and indispensable middle level manpower, the university concentrates on academic work and research. The result of their academic and research work is exactly what the polytechnic cadre puts into a practical form. For instance, an Electronics/Electrical Engineering graduate from the university can sit down on a table and plan how a given building can be wired. He is not expected to do the wiring himself. The wiring, which is a practical aspect, is now the responsibility of the polytechnic Electronic/Electrical Engineering graduate. The argument here is that while polytechnic education is more of practical, that of the university is theoretical. Polytechnic education is, for instance, 60 per cent practical and 40 percent theoretical while that of the university is vice versa. This little explanation is a pure pointer to the fact that both educational systems are not the same or is one an alternative to the other. Therefore, a student who is opting for the polytechnic education should bear in mind that he is opting for a practical- oriented education. He can only switch to the university if he wants to go academic or theoretical. In a nutshell, one does not enter a polytechnic as a last resort. It is a different educational system with its own mission, vision and, of course, a clear objective.” He said that having seen their peculiar attributes, one will now ask why the disparity or controversy between the HND and the Bachelors degree? This is a result of ignorance of those in government and public sector. The stakeholders in our educational system are to be blamed too. There is no basis for the disparity between the honours if the points are examined critically and objectively. “One needs four credits to gain admission into a Nigerian polytechnic against five required for the university system. The margin, frankly speaking, is not much and should not warrant the controversy. In fact, majority of the students in the polytechnics gained admission with more than five credits. The writer gained admission into the famous Mass Communications Department of the Oko Polytechnic with eight distinctions. Similar to the above point is the fact that polytechnic education lasts for five years while that of the university lasts for four years. One should have thought that the extra one year in the polytechnic would have made up for their supposed four credits on admission. In addition to that, one takes three subjects in the Polytechnic/Colleges of Education Examination to gain admission into the polytechnic while the University Matriculation Examination requires only one, which is not even a big margin.” “In terms of teaching staff, that of the polytechnic is as good as that of the university. The least qualification one needs for employment in the university, which is Bachelors degree, is also what is required in the polytechnic. This is also the case with the Doctorate degree, which is the highest qualification in both systems. The professorial title is just a title, which many Chief Lecturers in the polytechnics are qualified to be given. This is also the case with their standards of education. They are just the same. In fact, it has been proved time without number that some courses in the polytechnic are by far superior to that of their university counterparts. Accountancy is one of such courses and statistics of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) shows that HND graduates of the polytechnics pass their ICAN examinations more than their university counterparts. Mass Communication is also another and likewise the Engineering courses. “Today the polytechnic graduates are competing favourably with their university counterparts in the labour market. This is also a pointer to the fact that university education in Nigeria has no strong and effective regulation unlike their polytechnic counterparts. No polytechnic can venture or dare to do any course in Nigeria today without getting a go ahead accreditation, temporary accreditation and permanent accreditation respectively from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), which is now being called the National Polytechnic Commission. This permanent accreditation is even subject to review every four years. Any polytechnic that violates this guideline receives a sledgehammer immediately from the Commission. The Commission is very serious, rigid and strict on this. This is the reason polytechnic education is undiluted, qualitative and competes favourably with the university system. The alacrity, speed and manner in which some university, some of which are not up to the polytechnic level, churn out graduates in courses it is clear beyond doubt that they are not qualified to do leaves much to be desired about their universal status and puts their standard, credibility and regulation to great question. Even the manner the new ones spring up day-by-day is an urgent matter of concern.” He further called that these and many others are the reason a full and final stop should be put on the controversy and disparity existing between the HND and Bachelors degree. “As a way out, the Federal Government should as a matter of urgency upgrade the level of HND to that of the Bachelors degree and also make it a criminal offence for anyone, especially those in the labour market, to discriminate in giving employment to the graduates. It is an undiluted truism that no nation can do without the polytechnic graduates because of their contributions and indispensability in any economy, especially ours, which is a developing economy. Bearing this in mind, the Federal Government should also, as a matter of urgency, upgrade the polytechnics to the level of the university. They can still retain the name Polytechnics, Colleges of Technology or be referred to as Polytechnic University. For instance, we can then have Moshood Abiola Polytechnic University Abeokuta, The Polytechnic University Calabar, Federal Polytechnic University, Oko, and Yaba College of Technology etc. The Federal Universities of Technology should also be placed under this status.” “In terms of admission, one should be admitted as it was before with the minimum of 4 credits. He will then do his Ordinary National Diploma (OND). He must do his four-month Industrial Training (IT) in the first year and one year IT after the OND. Then he will come back for his Higher National Diploma (HND) after which he will go for one year National Youth Service Corps programme and then come back for his Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) if he wants to change discipline, then Masters and Philosophy degree.” According to him he is of the opinion that these polytechnic universities should be following strictly the curriculum of the polytechnic education as it is today. They should, on no condition, award conventional degrees. They should be restricted only to the technical degrees like HND, M.Tech, etc. They should also award honorary degrees and professorial title to deserving persons. For the sake of professional, undiluted and pure polytechnic education, the National Polytechnic Commission should be charged with the responsibility of their regulation and not the National University Commission. For the start and as an experiment, 12 polytechnics should be converted thus and monitored for at least 6-year period. Their performance will eventually lead to the full conversion of others. Two should come from each of the 6 geo-political zones existing presently in the country. This is to avoid cry of marginalisation from any quarter. The above argument and suggestion if taken by the government and implemented will truly turn around the polytechnic education in Nigeria. It will also make the HND and Bachelors degree controversy die a natural death, having seen that the neglect and relegation to the background of the HND is a joke carried too far by our university counterparts. This is, sincerely speaking, the best solution.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 09:56:28 +0000
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