ASUP Faults NBTE’s Outsourcing Of Poly Accreditation Teams

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has criticized the decision by the Federal Ministry of Education to allow the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to outsource the accreditation of polytechnic programs to a private firm. ASUP's Zonal coordinator, Comrade Lumpye Simji, expressed concerns about the move, stating that it poses a threat to the quality of technical and vocational education in Nigeria.

Simji warned that outsourcing accreditation could lead to a decline in standards and exacerbate the disparity between Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bachelor's degree holders. ASUP called for the establishment of a National Commission for Polytechnics to oversee polytechnic education, similar to the role of the National Universities Commission (NUC) for universities.

The union also raised issues regarding the exclusion of ASUP from discussions surrounding a proposed loan scheme for polytechnic lecturers and urged the government to implement prior agreements to avoid industrial unrest. ASUP further appealed for polytechn.