Conversion of polytechnics to technical varsities not wholesale process
The National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) has said the process for the conversion of polytechnics to technical universities is a gradual one and not wholesale and will, therefore, be implemented in phases.
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It explained that at a stakeholders’ forum on January 6, 2015, “participants unanimously agreed that the conversion should not be done wholesale, instead it should be done in phases based on an assessment of each polytechnic”.
A statement issued by the NCTE, therefore, said the fact that some polytechnics had not been listed in the Schedule of the Bill when passed, did not suggest that the door was closed to them and they would have no opportunity to be considered for conversion, adding, “The conversion policy ultimately is for all polytechnics.”
It explained that polytechnics that did not meet the conversion criteria under phase one of the conversion would be assisted to upgrade to meet the eligibility criteria.
“When this has been achieved, there is an avenue for these polytechnics to apply to the NCTE at any time it feels ready to be assessed and the NCTE will send an expert panel to undertake the assessment and a recommendation made to the Minister of Education who can cause the Schedule to the Technical Universities Act, as passed by Parliament amended by a Legislative Instrument to include that polytechnic as a technical university,” the statement explained.
Chronology of events
Giving a chronology of events, the statement said the Ministry of Education in September 2013 set up an eight-member technical committee under the chairmanship of Dr George Afeti to, among other things, develop a road map for implementing the policy.
The statement said the committee’s report which was completed in December 2014 and submitted to the minister, recommended among other things the characteristics of a technical university and eligibility criteria for assessment of and converting a polytechnic to a technical university.
“A draft technical universities bill was also developed by the committee. The technical committee’s report and the draft bill were referred by the Minister of Education to the NCTE for comments. Council endorsed and recommended the report and its implementation strategy to the minister,” it said.
Teams of Expert Panels
The statement said in July 2016, the NCTE constituted four teams of expert panels whose terms of reference were, among other things, to conduct a preparedness assessment of the 10 polytechnics in the country to determine their current status in relation to the conversion; recommend, where possible, the polytechnics which met the criteria for conversion.
It explained that the expert panels, made up of 12 distinguished personalities under the chairmanship of Prof. Anthony Apeke Adimado, visited and assessed each polytechnic based on an agreed eligibility criteria and after conclusion, submitted its final report to the NCTE on July 28, 2015.
The statement explained that the technical committee of the NCTE analysed the expert panel report and subsequently submitted recommendations to the minister for consideration.
Debriefing
“It is worth stating that in order to provide insight into how the Expert Committee conducted its assessment, it was agreed that their report be presented at a debriefing session on September 7, 2015,” it said.
The statement made it clear that the expert panel’s report to both the NCTE and the ministry was only advisory and was subject to review by the NCTE which set it up.
Technical Universities Bill
It said the Technical Universities Bill would soon be considered by Parliament for subsequent passage into a Technical Universities Act.
“The NCTE wishes to state emphatically that the whole conversion process so far has been done in a fair and transparent manner,” the statement said, and therefore advised people to desist from utterances, actions and threats intended to jeopardise or derail the progress so far made towards the agenda to convert the polytechnics to technical universities.