KT JOHNSON NEWS.............................................................................................. LETTER TO FG WRITTEN BY KT JOHNSON SAVING POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION The amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates into what is now known as Nigeria in 1914 officially ushered in the practice of governance known as colonialism. The colonial power or master was Britain while Nigeria was a colony, dependent on the former for policy formulation and execution. It goes without saying that the colonial master at whose behest it was to invest in the colony, for profit had to formulate policies that would best serve its interest. That accounted for why it was the policy of the British Colonial government to train interpreters, administrators and low cadre personnel in her quest for complete dominance of the socio-economic landscape of the colony. At independence, the founding fathers discovered that if the nation must grow economically and if the nation is to compete favourably with other young countries there must be a concerted move and conscious effort at imbibing technology. That was why within the first twenty years of nation hood (post independence) more than ten polytechnic colleges were established for the singular reason of providing intermediate staff and the much needed technocrats to run the country’s civil service and industries. The famous grammar schools of the pre-independence era gave way to secondary schools (as they became known), with enlarged curricula, while subjects like Latin, civics and history gradually gave way to introductory technology, additional mathematics, technical drawing etc. and the result was tremendous. By the 1980s, Nigeria no longer lacked the necessary intermediate manpower to work her industries. Wealth became increasing evenly distributed as artisans, workmen and machinists were gainfully employed. That was the golden era of polytechnics. The 80’s was when only lazy polytechnic graduates could afford to stay without work. That polytechnic education has nosedived, in relevance, is a well known fact. What are the factors that gave rise to a situation where for more than 6 months; the polytechnics have been on strike? First, over the years, there had been dwindling budgetary allocations for tertiary education and by similar extension, polytechnic education. This has in a great measure hampered various developmental projects hither to being embarked upon by schools. It also well known that the agitation by both polytechnic authorities and students alike, for an upgrade of the HND Certificate into a degree had been very acrimonious. In the face of a glut of manpower in the labour market, with no sure prospects of any reduction in the unemployment rate, calls for harmonization of polytechnic certificates with that of universities definitely have lost much sympathy. The economy of the country is facing much doldrums and the fact that industries are not being run optimally shows that graduates of polytechnics do not easily get job placements. One may therefore question the continued existence of polytechnic colleges in the face of stiff competition from graduates of universities. Herein lies the very basis for the seeming inaction of government when confronted with the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics. At the recently held aptitude test for applicants conducted by the Nigerian Immigration Service on the 15th of March, 2014 across the country, it is disheartening that HND holders were asked to write the same tests with WASCE, SSCE, NCE holders, thereby sending a loud message to all. The message is that polytechnic education is fast losing its place in the scheme of things and that much needs be done to reverse the downward slide. It is the thinking in some quarters that polytechnics have now become part of the problem and not part of the solution. This school of thought believes that whilst not entirely scrapping the polytechnic colleges, they should be affiliated to existing universities, get their courses stream lined and accredited so that their products could favourably compete with university graduates. Irrespective of the respected views of educationists and policy makers, it is my candid view that the Federal Government should strengthen the system by adequately funding it, restructuring the curricula and making our polytechnics attractive again. Developed societies never neglected technology based institutions in their drive for technological breakthroughs. Thanks.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:15:12 +0000
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