By Mary Donatus (Correspondent, Bauchi)
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has decried the low enrollment of students into polythecnics due to alleged neglect of polytechnic education by the federal government.
The National President of ASUP, Comrade Usman Yusuf Dutse, made this known on Tuesday at the 14th National Delegate Conference of ASUP, held at Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi State.
He said, “The neglect of polythecnic education by the Federal Goverment is responsible for the mass exodus from the system, experienced and well-trained intellectuals in areas of dire need and low enrollment of students into polytechnics in the country.”
According to Dutse, polytechnic education in the country has become endangered owing to persistent neglect, underfunding, unfavorable/conflicting policies, obsolete instruments of operation, decay of infrastructure and poor conditions of services.
“As major stakeholders in the sector, we cannot ignore the fact that problems of polytechnic education in Nigeria are becoming increasingly worrisome. Our sector is discriminated against and our graduates are ridiculed at points of employment, not because they lack the capacity, but because of marginalization enshrined in the policies and laws of the country.
“From records available to us, 1.5 million persons apply to universities while less than 40,000 apply to the polytechnics. Several efforts for the total removal of the dichotomy are still being sabotaged by some government interest,” he said.
Dutse stated that the union embarked on strike due to the failure of government at various levels to give the desired attention to the plights of polytechnic education in Nigeria, pointing out that government should match words with action and sincerity in order to ensure lasting industrial peace in the sector.
In his address at the conference, the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Shaibu Musa, lamented that inadequate funding had crippled the broad and existing national policies and programmes of polytechnic education, saying that these issues need to be tackled to enable the nation benefit from the huge potential of polytechnic education for the provision of manpower.
He enumerated the achievements of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, saying that the institution had recruited 240 academic staff of various ranks, approved study fellowships in Nigerian and international universities to 60 staff for PhD and 125 for Masters degrees and 300 staff who attended national and international conferences.