The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike action over an alleged imposition of a defective Scheme of Service for Polytechnics by the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE).
ASUP has given NBTE a 15-day ultimatum to review the entire document, which they claim does not support the growth of polytechnic education in Nigeria. This decision was made by the Zone D of ASUP, comprising polytechnics in the South South and South East regions, following a meeting at Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUP Zone D, Comrade Dr. Iloma Richard, criticized the Scheme of Service released by NBTE. He noted that it contained fundamental deviations from the expectations of stakeholders and staff members of polytechnics. Richard accused NBTE of trying to impose the defective document on the sector without convening stakeholder meetings to address concerns.
Richard highlighted several contentious issues in the document, including the introduction of a sub-tertiary educational level qualification, the National Skills Qualification (NQS), as a mandatory requirement for the promotion of academic staff. He also criticized the document for discriminatory practices, such as lowering the entry point for employment of graduate assistants in favor of B.Sc holders and the unnecessary splitting of the senior lecturer cadre into two levels.
“The document is against the career progression of polytechnic staff members and would lead to the collapse of polytechnic education in Nigeria,” Richard warned, calling for the immediate suspension of the scheme’s implementation.
He continued, “After a careful review and scrutiny of the highly anticipated document by our union with great enthusiasm from our members, it was regrettably found wanting. Several aspects of the document contained fundamental deviations from the draft outcome of previously held stakeholders’ engagements. These strange insertions are not only repugnant but highly discriminatory and thus, unacceptable.”
Richard emphasized that the Zone D of ASUP supports the position of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Union, which has called for the immediate suspension of the contentious areas of the scheme and the initiation of a review process through stakeholder engagement. The union has formally transmitted this position to all relevant authorities, with a 15-day ultimatum effective from July 8th to 22nd, 2024.
“We shall comply fully and swiftly mobilize our members from all chapters in the zone if, at the expiration of the ultimatum and upon the failure of the regulatory body to do the needful, NEC directs any form of industrial action. The nation should therefore hold the NBTE responsible for any such breakdown of industrial harmony in our institutions,” Richard concluded.
Ex-Officio and Immediate Past National President of ASUP, Comrade Anderson Ezeibe, also expressed disappointment, stating that stakeholder inputs into the scheme of service were disregarded. “Stakeholders repelled the document between 2018 and 2021. The document was jettisoned; what was brought out was different. So we have all rejected the document and we are very vigorous about it,” Ezeibe said.
