The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has launched two portals – one for Higher National Diploma (HND) Holders who wish to acquire Bachelor’s Degree through online Top-Up for one year with foreign accredited universities.
The board also unveiled an admission portal for use by all Polytechnics where only accredited Programmes would be visible on the portal and allow the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to know admitted candidates to be mobilised for national service.
In a statement on Sunday by the Head of Media Unit, NBTE, Fatima Abubakar, the agency said the new portal was to facilitate the progression of HND holders to higher degrees.
The statement said: “Attempts in the past to get the National Universities Commission (NUC) to approve a two-year Master of Technology for HND holders in some Polytechnics did not see the light of the day.
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“Many HND Holders are forced to go for a one-year Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) before they could be admitted into the Master’s Program in Universities.
“The disadvantage of the PGD is that holders who continue to do Ph.D. and wish to migrate to a Nigerian University will always be queried to produce their first degree, even when they have Doctorates.
“To end this unwarranted prejudice, NBTE has now created this progression pathway for HND holders. This can be accessed at https://topup.nbte.gov.ng.”
Speaking further, the Board said: “Another challenge facing many Polytechnic HND graduates is mobilisation for the National Service organised by the National Youth Service Corps. Many are admitted into non-accredited programs and after the HND, they are not mobilised for national service.
“NBTE has now created an HND admission portal for use by all Polytechnics. Only accredited Programs shall be visible on the portal and NYSC shall have viewing rights to know admitted candidates to be mobilized.
“This will hopefully bring an end to illegal HND admissions of unaccredited Programs and at the same time ensure carrying capacities are adhered to for quality assurance.”
The board appealed to President Bola Tinubu to sign the Bill removing the HND-BSc Dichotomy in the public service as passed by the last National Assembly to end the unjust and undeserved discrimination against graduates of the polytechnic system.
“It is the absence of this legal backing that makes NBTE find ways of enhancing the standing of our HND holders, who in reality hold the key to Nigeria’s industrialisation and the delivery of key infrastructural interventions needing skills,” the statement a
