The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) has rejected the release and immediate implementation of the new scheme of service by the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF) through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
Addressing newsmen on Friday at the Plateau State Polytechnic, the Zone B Coordinator of the union, Comrade Simji Lumpye said the document, which was released last month and immediately circulated to Rectors for implementation, was totally unacceptable to ASUP.
The Zonal Coordinator observed that the responsibility for drafting the scheme of service and its approval should
not be the sole responsibility of the office of the Head of Service/NBTE alone, but should include other stakeholder groups, especially the ASUP.
He declared that ASUP rejected in totality the dichotomy at the Graduate Assistant Entry Point, where a graduate of HND requires an upper credit while a degree holder requires a second-class lower to come into the polytechnic as a lecturer.
On CONTEDISS 12, he stated that it is demoralising, unnecessary, and detrimental to the polytechnic sector, adding that it will discourage students from enrolling in the polytechnic and will further widen the dichotomy and students’ apathy to polytechnic education.
“The preference given to bachelor degrees over HND certificates for the appointment of registrars and bursars is highly discriminatory. The document is biased and discriminates against its products. We vehemently reject this,” he said.
Lumpye further added that the deliberate exclusion of HND Pharmaceutical Technology from the document despite a subsisting court order shows a gross violation of the rule of law and urges the NBTE to make every arrangement. and reinstate HND Pharmaceutical Technologists into the document.
The Zone B Coordinator mentioned that the Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the document or face industrial disharmony, adding that at the expiration of the ultimatum, the body will convene for the next line of action.
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