Today, I speak with deep conviction because the truth must be told: The persistent discrimination against graduates of polytechnics and colleges of education is alarming, unjust, and must be confronted with immediate alacrity.
An HND or NCE certificate is not just a paper. It represents years of commitment, sleepless nights, practical training, and relentless effort. Many students found themselves in polytechnics and colleges of education not only by choice, but some by economic reality or cut-off limitations. Yet, they endured the same academic pressure, if not more, because technical education demands skill, discipline, and hands-on competence.
A question we must ask the Goverments:What is the purpose of establishing polytechnics and colleges of education if their graduates will be rendered useless after graduation? It is so pathetic! Many time, both state and federal governments roll out recruitment exercises that deliberately exclude HND and NCE holders. This is an affront to education and to the millions of Nigerians who chose the path of technical and vocational training.
Nigeria preaches industrialization and technical skill development, yet rejects the very institutions designed to produce technicians, engineers, technologists, and teachers. How can we build a 21st-century economy when we devalue the hands that are meant to build it? Polytechnics were created to bridge the gap between theory and practice. NCE holders were trained to shape the next generation. To jettison them after graduation is to debarred our own national development plan.
Imagine a young man from an average family who chose HND because he could not afford 5-6 years in a university. He sell water, does Okada, do laundry services, and takes weekend jobs just to pay school fees and meet up with the institution standard. After 4yrs of ups and down, he graduates with a upper credit, only to see “B.Sc only” on every government job portal. That is not just discrimination. That is psychological torture. It tells millions of students that their collosal sacrifice does not matter and it's not acceptable.
Students who graduate from departments with direct job relevance are still denied access to employment just because of their academic pedigree.
Brutal truth one must tell the Goverments: If government believes HND and NCE qualifications are nonsensical, then the honest step is to close down all polytechnics and colleges of education, or convert them fully to universities across Nigeria. Nigerian students deserve limpidity, not a system that prepare them for jobs that will never hire them.
I commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the NELFUND student loan initiative, which gives children of farmers and traders access to higher education. But I must also remind PBAT that many loan beneficiaries will struggle to repay if the labor market continues to discriminate against their certificates. A loan without equal job opportunity is a debt trap. You cannot give a man a ladder and then remove the wall.
Very disappointing is the pattern we now see in Ondo State in the recent time. Several recruitments across the ministries and agencies have completely debbared polytechnic and NCE graduates. The latest circular from the *Ondo State Public Complaints, Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Commission* offers no provision for HND holders nor NCE holders. This is not just disheartening, it is barbaric, pathetic, ridiculous, irrational and dangerous policy-making.
One must question the rationale behind this abnormal recruitment process: what is the purpose of education if those who studied excellently are denied the right to enjoy the results of their academics performances? By blocking HND and NCE holders out of the workforce, government is unknowingly breeding frustration, thuggery, and society unrest. An engaged youth builds the community. A jobless graduate becomes a threat to the nation.
The National Board for Technical Education Act and the Federal Government circular of 2017 initially communicated that HND should be equivalent to B.Sc for employment and career advancement. Yet, implementation of this law remains a joke for our leaders. Why make policies you have no intention of establishing? This double standard eradicate trust in government and barred young people from technical education.
In this regard, I call on the Executive Governor of Ondo State to caution his cabinet and ensure that the ongoing, and all future recruitments recognize and include HND and NCE holders. I also call on our Representative in the National Assembly of Nigeria to strengthen legislation and impose penalties on MDAs that violate the 2017 law and circular on HND/B.Sc equivalency. The commitments, sacrifices, necessary and needless fees, and sleepless nights of these students must not be wasted or jeopardize by our Governments.
Moving forward, I call the attention of the Nans chairman Ondo State to rise to the occasion of protecting the future of our students on campuses, no students must be denied of access to job because of his educational pedigree.
I also call on the National Executives of Nans, under the leadership of our highly revered leader, Akinteye Babatunde Afeez BABTEE, to Combat this issues toothlessly, and find a lasting solution to the discrimination in the labor market.
End the discrimination in the labor market. Give equality. HND and NCE are not waste. They are the backbone of technical growth and national development.
Temidayo Lawrence (KONIBAJE)
Student Leader | Youth Advocate | Nationalist ||
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