THE Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has urged the Federal Government to update all polytechnics to universities of technology to end discrimination against technological education in the nation.
Mr Adeyemi Aromolaran, Yaba College of Technology branch Chairman of ASUP, made the interest in a meeting with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
The ASUP chairman said that administration’s biased strategies against polytechnics were impeding the improvement of specialized training in the nation.
“We need to look at the British example of running educational programmes, because that is where Nigeria copied the polytechnic education system from.
“Britain had abolished polytechnics long time ago; all polytechnics have been turned to universities of technology in that country,’’ Aromolaran said.
He noticed that confirmation considers along with the country’s polytechnics and schools of instruction were dropping each year because of ominous government strategies.
“ASUP has not been keeping quiet but government response has not been favourable.
“Recently, another level of discrimination came again from JAMB, since we now have one JAMB examination for polytechnics and universities.
“JAMB now request that a candidate who made polytechnic second choice pay additional fee of N2500 or N3000 before being offered admission into the polytechnic.
“This is the latest form of discrimination against polytechnic education.
“Ordinarily, that is sufficient to discourage any young person from going into polytechnic, not to even talk of college of education.
“When we are agitating that government should remove the dichotomy and other discriminatory policies against polytechnics, now JAMB created another discriminatory policy against the polytechnic,’’ Aromolaran said.
The ASUP executive said that until all the hostile arrangements were nullified, the nation would not have a successful polytechnic framework that would be satisfactory by all.
Aromolaran said the union would proceed to dissent and oppose all endeavors to lessen the advance and improvement of the polytechnic instruction in the nation.
