The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the Federal Polytechnics Act to increase the qualification for appointment of Rectors of Polytechnics and empower them to award Bachelor of Technology, instead of Higher National Diploma (HND).

The bill is sponsored by the Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen and Chairman of the House Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, Fuad Laguda.

When passed and assented to, the law will eliminate the discrepancies in the B.Sc/HND controversy, while also increasing the qualification for appointment as Rectors of polytechnics

Leading the debate on the bill, Laguda described the Federal Polytechnics Act Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as an Act of the National Assembly seeking to establish polytechnics in various parts of the country to provide full-time courses in technology, applied science management and other fields of studies and to make provisions for the general administration of such polytechnics.

He said as a way of driving efficiency and advancement of polytechnic education in Nigeria, the Act was amended in 2019 to increase the retirement age of staff of polytechnics and harmonise the tenure of office of the Rectors and other Principal Officers of Polytechnics in Nigeria.

He said the current Bill is to further amend the Act to meet up with the demand of the ever-changing world while adhering to the international best practices.

According to him, “this Bill seeks to review and enlarge the membership of the council with the inclusion of representatives of technical institutional bodies like NBTE and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), enlarge the scope of functions of Federal Polytechnics in Nigeria with clearer and result-oriented administrative structure.”

He explained that clause 2 of the bill is seeking to amend Section 3 of the Principal Act to include representatives of NBTE and MAN in the council of every polytechnic.

He said further that clause 3 of the amendment seeks to amend section 8 which to raise the bar in respect of the qualifications of those seeking to occupy the position of the Rector of federal polytechnics.

Also, clause 4 will amend section 15 of the Principal Act, which seeks to enlarge the powers of the academic Board to among other award Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) Hons.

Speaker of the House Abbas Tajudeen, who is the main sponsor of the bill, said it was an initiative from the National Board for Technical Education as part of efforts to eliminate the dichotomy existing between holders of B.Sc and HND.

He said the amendment will abolish HND while the polytechnics will be empowered to award Bachelor of Technology, adding that the law will also increase the qualification for Rectors of the institution to a minimum of PhD.

The Speaker explained that the amendment will not affect the award of OND by the polytechnics as it will continue to exist for low level manpower.