The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the Federal Polytechnics Act to increase the qualification for appointment of Rectors of Polytechnics and empower them to award Bachelor of Technology, instead of Higher National Diploma.
The proposed legislation entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Federal Polytechnics Act, Cap. F17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to, among other things, review the Functions of the Polytechnics and for Related Matters”, was co-sponsored by Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker of the House and Fuad Laguda, Lawmaker representing Surulere I Federal Constituency.
Leading the debate for the Bill during plenary on Tuesday, Laguda, explained that the bill seeks to amend section 15 of the principal Act to enlarge the powers of academic board of polytechnic to among others to award Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) honours degrees.
The Lawmaker said the bill also proposed an amendment to Section 3 to include represtatives of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria in the council of every polythechnic. He explained that the inclusion of MAN is to enlarge the scope of federal polytechnics and ensure a result-orineted administrative structure.
He further said the Bill seeks to amend section 8 to raise the bar with respect of those seeking to occupy the position of Rectors in the federal polytechnics to a minimum qualification of a PhD due to the degree-awarding component.
According to him, “This Bill seeks to review and enlarge the membership of the Council with the inclusion representatives of technical institutional bodies like NBTE and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), enlarge the scope of functions of Federal Polytechnics in Nigeria with clearer and result oriented administrative structure”.
He explained that clause 2 of the bill is seeking to amend section 3 of the Principal Act to include representatives of NBTE and MAN in the Council of every polytechnic in Nigeria.
READ ALSO:Reps Propose Special Levy to Reduce Import of Finished Goods
He said further that clause 3 of the amendment seeks to amend section 8 which to raise the bar in respect of the qualifications of those seeking to occupy the position of the Rector of federal polytechnics in Nigeria.
Also, clause 4 will amend section 15 of the Principal Act which seeks to enlarge the powers of the academic Board to among other award Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) Hons.
Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen is the main sponsor of the bill said it was an initiative from the National Board for Technical Education as part of efforts to eliminate the dichotomy existing between holders of Bsc and HND.
He said the amendment will abolish HND while the polytechnics will be empowered to award Bachelors of Technology, adding that the law will also increase the qualification for Rectors of the institution to a minimum of PhD.
The Speaker explained that the amendment will not affect the award of OND by the polytechnics as it will continue to exist for low level manpower.