The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has expressed opposition to the NBTE’s recent service schemes for polytechnics.
As a result, ASUP has issued a 15-day ultimatum beginning July 8, 2024, asking the immediate suspension of the guidelines’ implementation unless essential changes are made.
Briefing the press in Abuja following the union’s National Executive Council (NEC), ASUP’s National President, Mr. Shammah Kpanja, attacked the NBTE’s directions, highlighting specific sections of the paper that he claimed undermined the autonomy and standards of Nigerian polytechnics.
Kpanja specifically cited the approval of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHSCoF) as responsible for staff employment at the polytechnic, claiming that this decision defies the institution’s processes.
“Our conviction is that the OHCSoF cannot be preparing or approving a document on career development of staff when she is neither an employer nor regulator,” he noted.
The ASUP boss also opposed to the mandatory inclusion of National Skills Qualifications (NSQ) as a prerequisite for academic staff career development, claiming it was unnecessary to the delivery of polytechnic programmes.
He also criticised the document for encouraging what he described as discriminatory practices that prefer university degree holders over Higher National Diploma (HND) holders in the country, stressing that such policies undermine efforts made by the union to close the gap.
“Several provisions in the controversial document eroded gains made in our union’s battle against this condemnable act,” Kpanja said, expressing deep concern over the impact on career progression and administrative appointments within polytechnics.
“The contentious document curiously, unjustifiably and unacceptably elongates the career progression steps of the Lecturer cadre from a seven-step to a nine-step career development cadre and at the same time added an extra year for promotion to the final two levels. This implies that anyone on the lecturer cadre will now endure a minimum of 26 tortuous years from the base to the highest level. This is not acceptable particularly in view of the fact that this deviates from the norm in other subsectors and that the retirement age in the sector remains unchanged,” he stated.