ASUP calls for sack of NBTE Executive Secretary over controversial service scheme
From Dennis Udoma, Uyo
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), has called on the Federal Government to sack the Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof Idris Bugaje for allegedly conspiring with the Head of Service of the Federation to introduce contrversial scheme of service which counteracts with the welfare of members.
ASUP Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic Chapter, Ikot Osurua, Comrade Eteyen Uko said this in Uyo in a chat with newsmen on Thursday.
Uko, said ASUP would not back out on their position against the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi – Esan on the drafting of the new service scheme done in connivance with the Executive Secretary, asking for it’s reversal.
Uko expressed anger that the NBTE Secretary could not defend Academic Staff of Polytechnics but rather conspired to spite the lecturers through some vexatious clauses in the new service scheme adding that, the Executive Secretary perpetuated the BSc and HND dichotomy whose bill to abrogate the disparity has gone through the first and second readings in the National Assembly.
ASUP chairman further explained that, the union will continue to kick against the new scheme of service because, while it takes the University Lecturers 18 years to become a professor; it takes the Polytechnic Lecturers 26 years to become a Chief Lecturer, which is equivalent to a university professor.
According to him, “There was a scheme of service since 1989 and later renewed in 2013 and 2019 respectively. Eventually, we saw another scheme just published by the Head of Service of the Federation Dr Folasade Yemi- Esan in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
“ASUP has kicked against that scheme of service in totality. Reason is that there are so many discrepancies and observations as far as the new scheme of service is concerned.
“The stakeholders in Polytechnics system were not carried along . The Head of Service just signed it as a document that was presented by the Executive Secretary of NBTE, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics was not carried along and we kick against it.
“The drafting and approval of the new scheme of service shouldn’t have been done by the Head of Service of the federation because she is not our employer and regulator of the Polytechnic education which is wrong”.
The ASUP chairman continued to enumerate the grey areas in the new service scheme for Academic staff of Polytechnics to include; splitting of the senior Lecturer level and elongation of the Lecturer cadre to 9 steps structure requiring a minimum of 26 years to reach the topmost level in the Polytechnic system.
” You know the system of Nigeria that you graduate at the age of 26 , it takes you 30 to 40 years of age to gain employment with the government and if you are employed as a Graduate Assistant,you can not attain the rank.of Chief Lecturer in the Polytechnic when you retired.
” Our retirement age is 65 years. So assuming you are employed at 40 , this means you can not be a Chief Lecturer.
” We are not struggling anything with the University, our own is the Polytechnic sector and we are dealing with technological base . In the University system , it 3 years as a Senior Lecturer . Why do you we have 4 years in the Polytechnic system and you have to stay for years each as Lecturer 1& 2 .
He maintained that, NBTE Secretary scheming to suppress Polytechnic graduates which the National Assembly is trying to address through the bill before it.
” They don’t want to regard HND graduates as anything from what we have seen. But that does not mean that somebody that has first degree is better than the HND graduates.
“In this institution, we have been going for competition with the University students and we come out first ,second and third. They are university while we are Polytechnics with different regulatory bodies”.
Comrade Uko therefore, called on the federal government to set up National Polytechnic Commission like the university counterpart to address injustices done to Polytechnics system to save it from total collapse.
He said education should be inclusive not segregative by creating disparities among graduates.
“Although this is not part of the present struggle but We are agitating that the federal government should establish National Polytechnic Commission ( NPC).
“As a matter of urgency, the federal government and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE ) should suspend the controversial scheme of service to save the Polytechnic system from collapse as many will not want to neither be students nor Lecturers in the Polytechnic system”, he said.
