The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has said the new online programme top for Her National Diploma (HND) holders to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree for one year with foreign accredited universities is meant for HND holders who want to pursue an academic career.
The Executive Secretary of NBTE, Idris Bugaje said the programme was not for all HND holders but those who have the ambition to further their career in an academic environment such as teaching and research in the Polytechnics or Universities.
In a statement by the NBTE head of media unit, Fatima Abubakar, the Executive Secretary said the top-up was an alternative to the Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) offered by Nigerian Universities.
He said: “In a democracy such as ours, HND holders should be allowed to make a choice between PGD and the Top-up to BSc. The board said the clarification became necessary following the misunderstandings about the programme in a section of the media.
“The top-up is not bringing an end to HND programs in Polytechnics but rather provides choice to HND holders wanting to go for an academic career. The choice of starting it with Foreign Universities is to show its universal acceptability perchance the Nigerian Universities may eventually buy into it in due course. The cost is reasonable, just about 10 per cent of what regular face-to-face students pay.”
The NBTE said it had come up with the programme to enable interested Polytechnic HND holders to be at par with their counterparts with Bachelor’s degree holders and make it easy for them to go for their Master’s and Doctorate degrees for those interested in pursuing their career in academics.
The statement added: “During the unveiling of the program early this month, Prof Bugaje, said the initiative would ease the suffering of HND holders in the country and to keep the hope alive, the NBTE had to find an alternative route, which is for them to do a one-year top up, in conjunction with some foreign universities. Presently there are many Ph.D. holders who academically progressed with HND through the PGD coming back to enroll for BSc (after their Ph.D.) in Nigerian Universities, a very retrogressive step indeed.
“The HND qualification in itself represents something unique” and this top-up shall be an encouragement for candidates to apply for Polytechnic education since there is a pathway for progression into academics. This will never dilute the essence of technical education but rather enhance it.”
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