SSANIP Wants Polytechnics Commission Established

THE Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) has called on General Muhammadu Buhari to establish Polytechnics Commission for effective coordination of polytechnics across the country.

YABATECH SSANIP Chairman, Mr. Olorunmbe Omopariola, who made this call while address newsmen, added that polytechnics across the country would be better managed and coordinated by the said commission, when established than the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), which had a lot of shortcomings.

“There has been a lot of agitation by various unions in the polytechnics calling for the establishment of a commission to oversee the affairs of polytechnics in the country.

“The universities and colleges of education have their own commissions; why should the polytechnics be different? Why can’t government give us a commission? If we have a commission, definitely the workings and general administration of the polytechnics will be better than what they are today,” he said.

Omopariola called on government to urgently address the dichotomy between university and polytechnic graduates, to ensure industrial harmony. He noted that for over 16 years, various governments had promised to address the problem without any concrete solution.

“There are a lot of anomalies in the placement of our graduates, employers will tell you that the Higher National Diploma (HND) holders are inferior to university graduates.

Unfortunately, this is the practice in most Federal and state government organisations. They give more regard to university graduates than their polytechnic counterparts.

“The new government should make it a priority to end the dichotomy between university and polytechnic graduates.