A bill seeking to eliminate the disparity between Bachelor’s Degree and Higher National Diploma (HND) holders has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas stated that the bill aims to replace HND with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), allowing polytechnic graduates to compete equally with university graduates.
Sponsored by Fuad Laguda from Lagos State, the bill also highlights the significance of technical education in Nigeria.
Speaker Abbas explained, “The position taken by all boards of polytechnics in Nigeria is the abolition of HND and in place of it to have Bachelor of Technology so that at least graduates of polytechnics will be able to compete with those from universities.”
He added, “At the same time, they are calling for hybrid supervision where the degree component of the polytechnic education will be handled by the NUC (National Universities Commission) while the national diploma will continue to be handled by the NBTE (National Board for Technical Education).
“Because of the degree component of this amendment, they felt that the qualification for being rector should also be upgraded to a Ph.D holder at the minimum since you will now be talking about degree programmes, it is only proper for such kind of establishment to have a Ph.D holder as the head of the institution.”
The bill was subjected to a voice vote and was approved for the second reading.
