Can Jonathan’s N12.4bn intervention address polytechnics’ decay?

Like other sectors of the country’s education sector, polytechnics in the country are facing the challenges of obsolete training equipment, infrastructure, unqualified lecturers among others following years of neglect by successive governments.  The situation is hindering the performance of the institution to produce the required skilled manpower needed for the country’s technological advancement. To address […]

Like other sectors of the country’s education sector, polytechnics in the country are facing the challenges of obsolete training equipment, infrastructure, unqualified lecturers among others following years of neglect by successive governments.  The situation is hindering the performance of the institution to produce the required skilled manpower needed for the country’s technological advancement.

To address the challenge, the Federal Government awarded the contract for the purchase of 12.4 billion naira equipment for the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) for 51 polytechnics. Speaking during the inspection of some of the equipment in Kaduna polytechnic, Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i reaffirmed the commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to positively turn around the country’s polytechnics to achieve the objectives for which they were established.

The minister who was conducted round by the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Kaduna Dr Masa’ud A. Kazaure said the TVET equipment are meant to replace the obsolete facilities used for the training of students in those institutions to enhance their skills and productivity. She stressed that the installation of the equipment would make graduates to be self-employed.

According to the minister, the need for modern equipment was predicated on the fact that scientific advances, technological changes and innovations have become the basis for the economic performance of any country.  She added that the ability to harness the potential of new scientific and technical knowledge and diffuse such knowledge has become a major source of competitive advantage, wealth creation and improvement in the quality of life.

She said: “We really know that we do have a problem but I know that if we work hard, with the nation in mind, with the fact that we have to ensure that we perform in the education sector, being the key to success of all sectors of the nation’s economy, we will succeed”.

The minister recalled that the first phase of supply of the equipment was carried out in 2005 when they were supplied to six Federal Polytechnics and 102 Federal Unity Schools, sponsored by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). “The second phase was implemented in 2007 when workshop and laboratory equipment were supplied to 62 tertiary institutions across the country”, she added.

Professor Rufai further stressed the commitment of the Federal Government to retool polytechnics and universities in the country. “We have been experiencing a kind of education collapse right through the system in the past, from primary to university. We are trying to do our best within the few years that we have to ensure that things are remedied, and we regain our lost glory.

“We are not only supplying the equipment to the polytechnics; we are also training the teachers to make them learn the skills that will help them apply the equipment as appropriately as possible. Over the years you can buy the equipment, but without the requisite training for people to run the equipment, you will run into problems,” she uttered.

Veteran polytechnic administrator, Engineer Aminu Aliyu said for the polytechnics to bounce back, government must invest and find ways to address all the challenges facing them.

Engineer Aminu, who was Rector of Federal polytechnic Bauchi from 1983 to 1991 said the equipment distributed to the 51 polytechnics will make impact if they are well looked at and put into use, saying I’m sure the students and staff will benefit from it tremendously.

“Massive investment should be made in the sector in order to address its inadequacies.  The problems of overcrowded lecture rooms need to be addressed, lecturers are over stretched. Problem of frequent power failure need to be looked at. The learning environment is no longer conducive as it used to be, these are the contributors to the falling standard of polytechnic education. You have to also device means to improve the quality at secondary school level from where student graduates to polytechnics. The problem of hostels can be address through Public Private Partnership since the government alone cannot do it,” he said.

To address the problem of unemployment in the country, Engineer Aliyu, who was once acting rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, said adequate attention should be given to the polytechnic education. “ If the polytechnics in the country are adequately funded and lecturers are well trained, the problem of unemployment would be drastically reduced because polytechnic graduates are trained to be self-employed,” he added.

On her part, Head of Department of Electrical Electronics of Kaduna Polytechnic, Engineer Rahmatu Aliyu Arbarshi said the equipment are extremely good for the training of the students of the department.  “The equipment are user-friendly even by reading the manual alone you can operate it. So because of the quality and simplicity of the equipment, I will say they are good. The students are really excited with the equipment because they are computer interface. The equipment are good but we need more in term of number,” she said.

She stressed the need for the re-training of lecturers with a view to acquaint them with modern techniques. “Though, the governments are trying but they need to do more to enhance the performance of the lecturers,” she said.

Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Dr Magaret K. Ibiyeye said to properly position the polytechnics for the task of marshalling the nation’s industrial and socio-economic development of the country, there should be a renewed interest and commitment in funding and equipping the institutions to produce the required skilled manpower.

Speaking when delivering a paper on the role of polytechnic education in national development during the annual week of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), Kaduna Polytechnic chapter, she said polytechnic education should be given its pride of place in the scheme of things.

She also said the polytechnic system should be encouraged to run Bachelor of Technology, Master of Technology and Ph. D in the same field for the technological advancement of the country. “For the nation’s economy to flourish, competent technicians must be trained and retrained in their chosen fields of endeavour.  This category of human capital cannot be ignored even in developed economies across the globe,” she said.

According to her, the polytechnics should make entrepreneurship education more relevant by setting up and managing production units in school workshops with a view of instilling entrepreneur education on their graduates.

On the 12.4 billion naira TVET, she says “The new equipment will enhance quality of TVE and by extension enhance technological development of the country no country can develop without the inputs from training equipment,”

Whether or not the Federal Government intervention would yield result, only time will tell.