Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
The Federal Government on Wednesday adopted far-reaching decisions aimed at streamlining the award of certificates by various tertiary educational institutions in the country, chief of which is the scrapping of the Higher National Diploma (HND).
The Federal Government on Wednesday adopted far-reaching decisions aimed at streamlining the award of certificates by various tertiary educational institutions in the country, chief of which is the scrapping of the Higher National Diploma (HND).
The Federal Executive Council, which held its weekly meeting in Abuja under the chairmanship of President Olusegun Obasanjo, decided that the polytechnics had derailed from the initial goal for which they were established by featuring students in virtually all non-technical courses.
Consequently, it halted further award of HNDs and approved that all polytechnics should henceforth be affiliated to federal universities nearest to them and would award bachelor of technology degree. It advised state governments to follow the Federal Government example.
Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, who briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, said however, that the HND certificate obtained before now would remain a legal tender and would be treated as the equivalent of first degree with the holders not discriminated in any manner whatsoever and with no limit to their progression in the work place.
'The HND certificate will remain a legal tender in Nigeria and holders of such certificate will continue to be recognised as the equivalent of first degree holders without discriminatory remunerations and limit to progression in the work place," she stated.
The council also ruled that the two most prominent polytechnics in the country, the Yaba College of Technology and Kaduna Polytechnics will henceforth be known as City University of Technology, Yaba and City University of Technology, Kaduna respectively.
Also, approved was the formal take over by the Federal Government of the Waziri Umaru Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi, which now becomes a College of Technology and a campus of the Othman Danfodio University, Sokoto as well as Hussein Adamu Polytechnic, Kazaure, which will be a College of Technology of the proximate university in that state.
Equally, Alvan Ikoku College of Education has been taken over by the Federal Government as a campus of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, while a state, like Bayelsa, which never had any federal educational institution, now has a College of Technology affiliated to the University of Port Harcourt .
Another decision of the council is the conversion of the institution Bali, Taraba State, to a college of technology and a campus of the proximate university.
Ezekwesili said the council constituted a ministerial committee to ensure the smooth implementation of all that is required for the take-off of the initiatives expected to commence immediately.
It also approved the submission of executive bills to the National Assembly for enactment as an act to establish the two city universities of technology as well as the preparation and submission, by the Ministry of Justice, of the draft bill to the National Assembly for the consolidation of all federal polytechnics and colleges of education as campuses of proximate universities.
The council, according to the education minister also set up a Presidential Technical Committee ,headed by Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, to work out the details for the conversion of colleges of education and technical colleges into campuses of federal universities.
While the NCE certificate will be retained as the minimum teaching qualification at the basic level of education, private colleges of education and polytechnics will continue to be licensed for the award of qualification at ND and NCE levels, she further pointed out.
Another major decision of the council was the award of three key contracts for the revitalisation of the aviation sector.
According to the minister of state for aviation transport, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, they are a N66.4 million contract for the procurement and installation of simulation equipment for training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria; N655 million contract for the procurement of five units of fire-fighting trucks for some airports across the country as well as N852.5 million contract for the construction of a cargo apron at the Murtala Muhammad Airport, Lagos.
The council also approved a new national gender policy, which seeks to establish parity between men and women in terms of development and decision making in the country.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Mariam Ciroma, said the new policy would replace the women policy currently in use in the country and was in line with development in the developed world.
The Federal Executive Council also, approved a presidential initiative on Allan Bakia (oil seed tree), which will see the extraction of oil from the fruit said to have ready market in Japan, directing Unilever, as a first step, to go ahead to see what it could produce from the fruit.