ASUP Insists on Creation of Separate Commission for Polytechnic Education

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has again expressed desire for the establishment of a National Polytechnics Commission to regulate the operations of the institutions in the country. Regulation of Polytechnics and other technical colleges is currently within the purview of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) established since 1977.

However, ASUP said that with the exponential growth in the number and profile of Polytechnics over the past years it has become necessary to unbundle NBTE and create a separate Commission to regulate only the tertiary education institutions.
It said that the new Commission will serve to regulate the over 700 tertiary education institutions currently under the NBTE.

A statement signed by ASUP president, Shammah Kpanja, said the union is in support of efforts of the National Assembly to establish a National Polytechnics Commission through a bill in the House of Representatives (SB 673) sponsored by Hon. Idu Igariwey.

ASUP said: “With the exponential growth in the number and profile of Polytechnics over the past four decades, as well as the explosion in the numbers of institutions under the regulatory regime of the NBTE. “Our Union has been making demands (and rightfully so) for the establishment of a separate Commission to regulate the tertiary education institutions found in the current mix of over 700 institutions under the NBTE”.

The union however said it was concerned over reports of a fresh move to tinker with the original intent of the Bill.

Igariwey said the union will not accept the establishment of another Commission to regulate technical and vocational education in the country, adding that it will be a mere change of name without the desired impact on the regulation of Polytechnics in Nigeria.

“We also see this as self-serving and a distraction capable of undermining the laudable efforts of the House of Representatives on same subject.

“Our union is therefore reiterating our support for the unbundling of the current mixture of institutions under the NBTE and the extraction of tertiary institutions from the mix to a dedicated Commission for effective regulation,” it said.