Dr. Clement Chirman is former chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP). Now acting Rector, Plateau State Polytechnic, Jos, he bares his mind on the challenges and future of polytechnic education in Nigeria.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
How can the disparity between university and polytechnic graduates be resolved?
Dichotomy has been removed from the point of entry. So HND and degree holders now have the same entry point, level eight, in the civil service.
The issue now is the discrimination of HND holders. And that’s why the new debate is that if the Nigerian society does not see anything good in HND, let it be scraped it, replace HND with B Tech. So after the national diploma, you will go in for B. Tech. You don’t come through JAMB.
That is the new push and NBTE has keyed into it. Co-Heads have keyed into it, Other stakeholders have keyed into it. By the time they graduate, we would have graduates who would specialize in some practical aspects like tiling, PoP, bricklaying, tailoring, motor mechanic.
Let us change the narrative of this nation and allow the polytechnic to take the lead. Do you know that these phones that we have here are made by technological institutes abroad? Yes, you go to China. They are the ones doing these things. And that’s how they sustain themselves in a developed nation.
A polytechnic should not look for subvention. We should be able to generate our own revenue ourselves and sustain ourselves. We don’t need to go to the government to get money. Not that every rector will sit and wait for an alert and if it does not come, everybody will develop hypertension.
We should be able to generate the money. That’s why we’re a technological institute. A technological institute is the new drive. And that is what ASUP, stakeholders, NBTE, Co-Heads and even the alumni are all preaching now that the narrative must change, dichotomy must go. Don’t judge people by where they are coming from. Judge people by what they can do.
How are stakeholders and NBTE getting involved in the new order?
The students know, some of them refuse university to come to the polytechnic. They know what they are looking for. What we need to do is to give them the training they need. Don’t think that all the students that are in the polytechnics is because they don’t get university admission.
There are some of them who refuse university for polytechnic. They know what they want and what we are going to do, is link every course to entrepreneurship. That is what we want as you graduate, you don’t wait for somebody to give you a job again. You do it on your own.
How do you see the future of polytechnic education in Nigeria?
Brighter future, glorious future. We are working to see a polytechnic that will be innovative, productive and one that will be able to produce everything.
We are working to see a polytechnic that will fit into the Nigerian economy, produce what we want, compete with others in the world, whose graduates will not be discriminated against and will not even look for government jobs. Government would be looking for them to come and do things for them.
What has been the journey so far since your appointment?
So far, so good. Governor Caleb Mutfwang Excellency has been able to provide encouragement to all the institutions, from primary to secondary and to tertiary, including the Plateau State Polytechnic.
The first thing he did was to rescue the tertiary institutions from total collapse. These institutions were created with a vision. In Plateau State Polytechnic, as a technological institute, we were supposed to be on top, champion innovation andb entrepreneurship skills so that the graduates we produce will not be those that will not roam the street, but will be self-reliant on skills beyond the certificate they have obtained.
There was a time when Plateau State Polytechnic was rated number six in this country in terms of standard and the most desired destination for candidates when it comes to admission. In Northern Nigeria, we were second after Kaduna Polytechnic. And that tells you that there was a time we had a good history.
That trend got reversed. This place was moving towards total collapse with dilapidated infrastructures. Students no longer desire to be here. And 80 per cent of Plateau indigenous would prefer to go to other neighboring states for polytechnic education. I think we have about 40 PhD holders, apart from some other senior persons.
Those were the problems that the governor saw and he effected changes. He brought in those who understand the system and those who will fit in and help in driving the education sector to an enviable height in Plateau State Polytechnic. I spent the whole of my life involved in polytechnic education. I have helped in developing a lot of blueprints for polytechnic education in this country.
What kind of institution did you inherit?
When I came, the story was bad. The first problem I met was that our courses were not accredited since 2018. Accreditation of courses, you know, in the tertiary sector, is an important ritual. It creates an opportunity for NBTE to come and assess the programmes, quality assurance, to look at the facilities, and how this will help in giving the students the desired knowledge.
When I visited the National Board for Technical Education, (NBTE), they showed me a chart and the position of our institution. Plateau State Polytechnic was blinking red in virtually all the programmes. The implication of that was that NBTE was to close all our programmes and deny our graduates from going for the NYSC. I did not want that because it would have been the biggest tragedy. We would have found ourselves in the biggest embarrassment.
Immediately when we came in, the governor provided funds to address accreditation. Within one month of my administration, we tackled the accreditation problem. The governor met with me and expressed his strong desire to restore the lost glory of this institution.
Most of our interventions, apart from what the state government is doing, most of the interventions we get are through TETFund. The governor facilitated some projects with TETFund. He secured N2 billion intervention.
Some stakeholders resisted your appointment, why?
From whom? When somebody is not guided and the person does not understand what is in a system there would be resistance. There is somebody that feels you come to displace him or her and then the person will put up resistance.
The resistance did not last for more than one week. And it was from a group of people that would not fill up a pick-up vehicle if we had to transport them to Jos.
You should understand that I’m part and parcel of this system. I have spent the whole of my life here. I’ve been their leader and I’ve served at the national level. I’ve been a member of the governing council this institution. I’ve been a dean and I’ve been chairman of vital committees and I’ve represented the polytechnic in virtually every important committee in this country.
One of the reasons they gave was that the person you succeeded had still some time left.
Which time? For those of you who were not here, that same person, they were talking about, I interviewed him to become rector. I was one of those in the interview panel. We are regulated by the National Board for Technical Education.
There is the issue of standardisation and uniformity. And that is why the salary they pay at the federal level, we adopt it at the state level. We don’t give Plateau diplomas, we give national diplomas regulated by the NBTE for the purpose of standardizing uniformity. The scheme of service we use to employ staff, promote them, everything is given to us by the NBTE.
It’s a federal government document. We use it for the purpose of uniformity. The appointment of rectors is guided by the same template produced by the NBTE for the purpose of uniformity and of standardization.
When that person was appointed, he was given a five-year tenure as recommended by the template of the NBTE. When he spent five years and was to leave, some people sat down somewhere and manipulated and said no, they would give him four years.
That’s why the governor said no. The letter of your appointment is five years. And that is the standard in polytechnics, colleges of education and universities. He wanted to spend eight years.
There was no agitation. It was only few people who were not used to his system, very insignificant people. The agitation did not take them one week. We sat down, we discussed the issues. What were the issues? The role of a proprietor in an institution is important.
As a former chairman of ASUP, there was agitation for new salary scale, what is the position now?
When I was chairman of the union, everything I fought for, I got it. There’s a new salary scale. The good thing about Plateau State is that the state has always implemented every salary for the tertiary institution as implemented at the federal level. There’s a new minimum wage and that one will be left for the union to present to the government to work for its implementation.
When the unions were making agitations recently, I told them that if you don’t know the workings of the union, why will you go on strike? He’s paying salary as at when due. Anything you take to him, he will implement. So we are very comfortable.