NBTE suspends new polytechnic service programs following backlash

The National Board for Technical Education clarified on Monday that the new training plans approved by the federal government are aimed at nationwide polytechnics and not at state technical colleges.

The Executive Secretary of the NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, made this clear at a press conference at the body’s headquarters in Kaduna.

Bugaje also announced the suspension of the “controversial” new service programs to make room for further input from stakeholders in the country’s polytechnic sector.

According to a report by The PUNCH, the NBTE on June 19, 2024, unveiled new service delivery plans approved by the Federal Government for Nigerian polytechnics, effective from June 7, 2024.

The NBTE boss had explained to those present that the new rosters represented a uniform approach to the recruitment and promotion of staff in all polytechnics in Nigeria.

However, the Polytechnic Academic Staff Union objected, claiming that the new service plans lacked comprehensive stakeholder engagement, particularly from their union and stakeholders in the polytechnic sector.

Against this backdrop, the disgruntled lecturers issued a 15-day ultimatum to the federal government, which could come into effect on July 8, 2024, to suspend the implementation of the new work plan, failing which they would face various forms of industrial action by the union.

The head of the NBTE, however, insisted that the service plans were those for the federal polytechnic universities and not those for the state universities, as the union believed.

However, he stated that there would be no negotiations in the areas where the new rosters “recognise HND holders as Graduate Assistants like their university counterparts for the first time” and in the areas where “headteachers and senior lecturers will be required to hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D.)”.

Bugaje said: “The NBTE has noted the call of the Federal Polytechnics Academic Staff Union (FEPASU) and wishes to point out that the duty rosters are exclusively for the Federal Polytechnics it represents.

“National universities of applied sciences have peculiarities in terms of ownership and administration that distinguish them from state universities of applied sciences.

“And what is more important, education is on the concurrent list of our Constitution and the NBTE cannot therefore impose the new service system (after its final approval) on any state polytechnic.

“Therefore, ASUP should be moved to where it belongs, namely to the state technical colleges, and the new program is not for them. All of our accreditations at state technical colleges should in future be limited exclusively to academic programs to ensure that standards are met.”

In order to avert the impending industrial action by the university lecturers, the board had informed the head of the department in an official letter that the program had to be reviewed before it was implemented, said Bugaje.

He warned that the government would implement a “no work, no pay” policy if the lecturers went on strike.

“We have written to the head of the service to draw our attention to the grey areas in the new work plan and I am confident that she will respond. We will suspend the implementation of the new work plan until the issues are resolved,” he said.

He urged stakeholders to remain calm ahead of the upcoming review of service plans for 2024, but noted that there are “areas where there will be no compromise.”

“But ASUP’s argument that people want to run away from the doctorate would not be acceptable,” he added.