The Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE), has urged the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to establish a polytechnic in Abuja in order to enhance technical education in the territory. The Chairman of NATE, FCT Branch, Mr Jubril Kadri, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
NAN reports that NATE is a professional body with membership comprising mainly Higher National Diploma (HND) and National Diploma (ND) holders in engineering.
Jibril, who rued the absence of government-owned polytechnics in the FCT, noted that the existing private polytechnics lacked the capacity to provide the necessary equipment to enhance engineering study.
He said that technical education requires huge and consistent funding for procurement of mechanical equipment, hence the call on government for allocation of sufficient resources to the sector.
“We don’t have any federal polytechnic in Abuja. The ones we have are all private polytechnics.
“It is not easy for private polytechnics to provide sufficient technical equipment in the engineering departments, especially in mechanical, it is very capital intensive.
“So, there is the need for the FCTA to set up a polytechnic and ensure that funds are allocated for provision of adequate infrastructure and qualified lecturers, “ he said.
The NATE chairman, however, stated that the association would soon “commence discussions with the National Assembly and the FCT Minister on the matter.’’
He said the talks would encourage the FCTA to put necessary infrastructure on ground towards establishing a polytechnic in the territory.
Kadri said that NATE was organising awareness campaigns to enlighten polytechnic students on how to sustain their interest in making career in the engineering profession.
According to him, many potential technical students will rather wait for years at home to gain admission into universities than attending polytechnics because of the HND/ university degree dichotomy.
“When you remove the dichotomy between the HND and the university degrees, that would also encourage many people to go for technical education.
“When you remove this dichotomy, the degree holder knows he has his career path and the HND man has his own career path too.
“So, the polytechnics would be able to serve as platform for technical education which is an essential ingredient to building a solid economy driven by science and technology,’’ he said.
NAN
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