A bill seeking to eliminate the long-standing disparity between Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bachelor’s Degree holders has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas explained on Tuesday, March 4, that the proposed legislation aims to replace HND with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) to enable polytechnic graduates to compete on equal footing with their university counterparts.
“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,” Abbas said.
The bill, sponsored by Lagos lawmaker Fuad Laguda, also highlights the significance of technical education in Nigeria’s development.
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Additionally, Abbas noted that the bill proposes a new supervisory framework where the degree component of polytechnic education would be overseen by the National Universities Commission (NUC), while the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) would continue handling national diploma programmes.
“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,” Abbas added.
Following a voice vote, the lawmakers approved the bill for further legislative consideration.