The strike embarked on by polytechnics’ workers has renewed calls for increased investment in technical and vocational education, SEGUN OLUGBILE reports.
Arguably, the nation’s polytechnic education sub-sector holds the key to youth unemployment if well structured and funded. This is because, by convention, polytechnics are mandated to produce mid-level workforce and skilled technicians that will drive the country’s quest for technological advancement.
Polytechnics, according to the National Council on Education, are to be at the forefront of efforts to produce graduates who will become job creators and efficient technically-oriented workforce. Curricular of polytechnics are fashioned in such a way that they enhance the impartation of practical skills in students. But efforts to lift the sub-sector have not yielded the positive result.
The reasons for this are not far-fetched. Stakeholders in the sector — including workers’ unions and experts in technical and vocational education — say these include inadequate funding, government’s insensitivity to the development of the sub sector, disparity in wage and discrimination against its products. But the major clog against the wheels of polytechnic education’s progress are industrial actions that are always induced by government-workers’ crisis.
For instance, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Polytechnics are presently on a strike that they say they want to use to prevail on the Federal Government to implement agreement reached with them.
ASUP had embarked on the strike since April 29, while SSANIP joined them on May 7. The strike, which is currently in its third month, has paralysed academic and administrative activities in all the 68 public polytechnics across the country. Students — the usual cannon fodder — are bearing the brunt of the crisis, lending credence to the saying that “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
Many of the students are idling away at home, while others are engaged in many things unrelated to their academic goals. But despite the strike, the Federal Government has remained aloof, thus fuelling the crisis.
The National President of ASUP, Mr. Chibuzo Asomugha, says though polytechnics have been groaning under the weight of challenges that have hampered their development, the Federal Government has refused to give attention to the sector.
Articulating the grouse of the union against the government, Asomugha says its refusal to implement the agreement reached with the unions, and government insensitivity to the ongoing strike, are some of the reasons for the action. He adds that underfunding, discrimination against poly graduates, non-establishment of a national commission of polytechnics, and the bias in the distribution of budgetary allocation, which is currently skewed in favour of universities, and appointment of unqualified persons as rectors of some polytechnics are some of the demands.
“The Federal Government is biased against polytechnic education. If you look at the distribution of budgetary allocation to institutions under the Federal Ministry of Education, you will discover that universities alone got N188.4bn — that is about 47 per cent — out of the N400bn approved for the sector in the 2012 financial year,” he says.
Asomugha adds that the union is not also happy with the government’s refusal to commence the implementation of retirement age of lecturers in the polytechnics from 60 to 65 years. The union also wants government to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks and discrimination associated with accessing Tertiary Education Fund by poly lecturers and the implementation of the reviewed Scheme of Service and CONTISS 15, as it affects junior workers in the polytechnics.
Condemning the discrimination against polytechnic graduates at job entry and in career progression in public service, ASUP canvasses a level playing ground for graduates of all tertiary institutions. It also demands that polytechnic education be properly and adequately funded by government, urging it to stop paying lip service to technical education.
The lecturers also seek the elimination of discriminatory cut-off points for candidates seeking admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. This, they argue, should be harmonised with the cut-off points into all tertiary institutions in the country.
These challenges, the polytechnic workers argue, are the reasons why the sub-sector has been finding it difficult to efficiently deliver on its mandate.
Also, the former National President of SSANIP, Alhaji Gani Akinleye, who is also a member of the national executive of the union, blames the current strike on Federal Government’s refusal to honour agreements. Armed with a copy of the agreement SSANIP allegedly reached with the government, Akinleye says less than 50 per cent of the agreement has been implemented.
He contends that the unions should not be blamed for the present strike, arguing that the Federal Government should be held responsible for the action.
“Nigerians should hold the government responsible for what has happened in the last two and a half months in the polytechnic sector. “We have been pushed to the wall and that is why we resorted to strike, because that is the only language government understands.
“We have spoken the language of compromise and the language of negotiation, but the government appears not interested in resolving this crisis,” he says.
Akinleye, however, admitted that government had met only once with the union since the strike started. The meeting ended in a deadlock, as the two parties refused to shift grounds.
He says, “At the meeting, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, even said she was not aware that ASUP and SSANIP were on strike. That comment was unfortunate. If government set up a committee and invited members of these unions to be part of that committee, how come you now turn around to say you don’t know them?”
Before SSANIP can call off the strike, Akinleye says, government should implement the agreement, start a Needs Assessment of polytechnics, establish a national polytechnics commission, while some state government-owned polytechnics should start the implementation of the statutory 65-year retirement age for academic staff, from the present 60 years.
He describes as discriminatory the wage disparity and career progression between the polytechnic graduates and their university counterparts.
Except for the June 14 deadlocked meeting that government had with the unions since the strike started, no government official had said anything about the crisis. Efforts to get the comments of the minister failed, as an official in the ministry who pleaded anonymity said Rufai was not available.
Some former polytechnic students are, however, worried over the discrimination and wage disparity between them and their university counterparts. This, they argue, is frustrating polytechnic education. They, therefore, call on the government to implement a policy initiated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which seeks to remove the disparity.
“There is nothing a university graduate can do in my accounting profession that I cannot do; I will even do it better, but it’s unfortunate that they are kings and queens in the public and some private sectors. So, I will call on the striking workers to insist, among other demands, that the disparity should be removed,” a member of staff of a telecommunications company in Lagos, Mr. Ayo Ajani, says.
Ajani adds that government should do away with certificates in hiring people, saying that proficiency, ability and capacity to deliver should be the most important factors and not paper qualification.
Also, experts in technical and vocational education, including the former Rector of Lagos State Polytechnic, Mr. Anthony Gasper, argue that inadequate funding of technical education will lead to increased rate of youth unemployment. Government, they argue, should urgently move to resolve the crisis and invest more in technical and vocational education.
Gasper, who is also the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, says apart from funding polytechnic education, government should revamp technical colleges and strengthen vocational institutions across the country.
“The strike should be resolved as soon as possible. Polytechnic education is key to national development and that is why no effort should be spared in making it functional and effective, so as to make it impart requisite skills into our youths.
“We have the problem of unemployment in this country and I can tell you that Nigeria needs polytechnic education because, without it, our search for technological development will be a mirage.
“Polytechnic/technical education provides the hands on skills needed to create self-reliant youths. That is the way the world is going. If you go to Asian nations such as China, Japan and South Korea, you will discover that those driving the economy are not necessarily university graduates but skilled youths exposed to technical training,” Gasper says.
A human resource expert, Mr. Leye Afolabi, says since there are little or no white-collar jobs for the youths again in the country, government should do all within its power to revive technical education. “Allowing strike in tertiary institutions, particularly at polytechnics, will not augur well for us as a nation. Unemployment rate is too high,” he laments.
His assertion may not be far from the truth, as a statistics on the unemployment rate in the country, revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics, lends credence to this.
The frightening figures from the NBS should worry our policy makers. From 19.7 per cent in 2009, unemployment rate rose to 21.1 per cent of the population in 2010. It hit an all-time high of 23.9 per cent as at December 2011.
According to the NBS, the total number of unemployed Nigerians rose from more than 12 million in 2010 to over 14 million in 2011, with the figure escalating by 1.8 million between December 2010 and June 2011. The most affected are youths between the ages of 15 and 44.The rural areas were the most vulnerable.
Also, a 2011 report of the United Nations states that seven out of every 10 graduates in Nigeria are unemployed. This trend, Gasper says, should set the government thinking about how to use technical and vocational education on offer at polytechnics and technical colleges to eliminate youth unemployment.
“That is why the Lagos State Government set up LASTVEB to train youths, including graduates, vocational development. There are millions of young Nigerians who are able-bodied but without technical skills. Those in technical colleges and polytechnics should be groomed, but it is not good if we cannot keep them in class because of strike. We should ensure that strike is eliminated from the sector; otherwise, we will continue to breed half-baked graduates,” he says.
The former Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Mr. Olubunmi Owoso, expresses similar opinion. He, however, advises both parties to hold a dialogue, with a view to resolving the crisis in the interest of students and national development.
Strikes, he says, are not good for development; but since it has happened, the feuding parties should come together and settle their differences. Owoso, however, commends the Federal Government for its efforts to transform the education sector.
“In all honesty, government is trying because there are a lot of sectors that need its meagre resources. Youth empowerment through technical education will go a long way to empower our youths, however.
“Polytechnic education provides the hands-on skill needed to create self-reliant youths. That is the way the world is going. If you go to Asian Tigers, you will discover that those driving the economy are not necessarily university graduates but skilled youths exposed to technical training. So, we should do the same for our youth,” Owoso advises.
Though the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education, Dr. Masu’d Adamu Kazaure, does not support strike, he expresses optimism that the crisis will be resolved soon.
He expresses support for calls for the empowerment of youths through technical and vocational education.
“That is why the NBTE has developed the national occupational standard for all vocation and trades that have been approved for all our vocational institutions. The idea is to help us assess the level of proficiency of artisans in their various trades.
“We also recognise the fact that it is not good to place promotion condition only on paper certificate but also on proficiency and ability to do the job. If a technician, for instance, is working with the PHCN and he has demonstrated enough proficiency in the repairs of transformers, he should not be limited by salary scale, he should be encouraged to become a director of transformer repairs rather than place a degree holder with less experience over and above him,” he says.
This, he says, is one of the efforts being made by the Federal Government to address the issue of overemphasis on certificate acquisition.
Owoso, however, argues that despite the challenges facing the polytechnic education, the sub-sector has contributed hugely to human capital development in Nigeria.
Kazaure also reminded the nation’s leaders that Nigeria would not survive without polytechnic education; adding that no efforts must be spared to reposition it.
“We have been saying this for a very long time. Nigeria cannot survive without technical education. This being the case, we should do what other nations are doing. We should encourage polytechnics to award degrees, we should invest more in science education from the primary education level to the tertiary level,” he counsels.
In order to eliminate the challenge of disparity and discrimination against polytechnic graduates, Owoso advises that polytechnics that have the required facilities and human capital should be allowed to award degrees.
But he adds that entry requirements for degree courses in these polytechnics should be the possession of the Ordinary National Diploma certificate.
“I think that government should allow polytechnics to award degrees, but they should continue the OND programmes. When you allow this, ND certificates will then become the entry requirements for admission for the bachelor of technology degree in polytechnics,” he says.
He adds that after the completion of the ND programme, interested graduates who made lower or upper credits should be allowed to begin the degree programme through direct entry.
Though union leaders agree with most of the suggestions proffered by experts, they insist that they will not call off the strike until the Federal Government accedes to their demands.
