NUC to Phase out Diploma Programmes

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has expressed its readiness to phase out all diploma pro­grammes run at the undergrad­uate level across universities in the country.

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Abuba­kar Adamu Rasheed, disclosed this in his office in Abuja while receiving the Executive Secre­tary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr Masaudu Kazaure.

The new NUC boss said only polytechnics have the statuto­ry right to run diploma pro­grammes, adding that the Fed­eral Government had earlier issued a circular as far back as 2000, which prohibits the use of ordinary diploma certifi­cate either in the promotion or employment of staff in the civ­il service.

“We are going to formally put a deadline on it that there should be no diploma again to be run by universities, let us allow those that are statutory allowed to run diploma pro­grammes, the polytechnics, to continue with it,” he said.

While assuring of his deter­mination to strengthen voca­tional education in the country, Prof. Rasheed said NUC would collaborate with NBTE to de­velop a blueprint that would give polytechnics the capacity to run degree programmes on their own as obtainable in oth­er developed clime.

Earlier, the NBTE Execu­tive Secretary, Musauda Kaza­ure, who said the visit was to congratulate the NUC boss and seek areas of cooperation, how­ever dispelled rumours making the round that the Federal Gov­ernment have converted Fed­eral Polytechnic, Kaduna and Yaba College of Technology to city universities.

Kazaure, who lauded the re­cent decision of the Council of Civil Service Establishment to remove the dichotomy between university degree and polytech­nic’s Higher National Diploma (HND), said the move, which allow HND holders that have Post-Graduate Diploma (PGD) to be at par with university graduates in the civil service, was a welcome development.