The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in Kaduna has launched two portals, one for HND Holders who wish to acquire Bachelor’s Degree through online Top-Up for one year, with foreign accredited universities.
A statement by the NBTEhead, Media Unit, Hajiya Fatima Abubakar, said, “the programme is to facilitate the progression of HND holders to higher degrees. 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.”
The board said: “Many times 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 athttps://topup.nbte.gov.ng.
“Another challenge facing many polytechnic HND graduates is mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Many are admitted into non-accredited programs and after the HND, they are not mobilised for the NYSC. NBTE has now created a 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 mobilised. 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.
“Finally, the board wishes to appeal to Mr. President to please 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.”