Jonathan sets up committee to resolve HND/Degree dichotomy

It is only in Nigeria that a HND graduate will have to posses PGD as a bridge to Masters degree. No country can ever develop without the practical application of technology which polytechnics offer. In one university in Northern Nigeria which pride itself as the best, promotion of a HND holder is four years while Bsc holder is three years. In the same university, PGD is run for two years and that does not guarantee a HND holder with a two years PGD masters program. It goes on and on.

J. Mgaba

1mmgaba@yahoo.com *********************** HND/B.Sc. dichotomy is everywhere; resolve their strike, equip them and improve their man power, then they will produce qualitative graduates. Most of their teachers will only get admitted at 300 level based on the universities standards; so solve those problems instead.

Usman

u.a.danbaba@gmail.com *********************** It is rather unfortunate that this matter has continued to linger for so many years now. HND and degree are not the same. In the market, they are not. In the office, they are not. Why bother to waste public funds organizing another committee? Is there anywhere in the world or in major countries where you can commence a Masters degree with HND? You would need a PGD or a pre-Masters. Does that not already show that there is a dichotomy? The teaching is not the same, neither is the curriculum. Both of them were supposed to fill different gaps. In engineering for example, a technologist (HND) is different from an engineer (Degree). Because HND starts on level 7 does not mean he cannot progress to any level as far as he shows competence required for those levels. If he needs more education, he should get it. God bless Nigeria.

Tuneski

tuneski@gmail.com *********************** I pray that this difference between HND and Degree holders would be over.

Aliyu Nasir

nass2u@yahoo.com *********************** It is true that HND holders need to obtain a PGD before proceeding to study for their Masters degree. We are not saying that the practicallyoriented HND is not useful to the development of our nation. Please, know that there can’t be practical without a basic theory. If you do not get the theory right, then you cannot develop anything practically. There is a difference between a carefullyarticulated curriculum for a period of at least four years and a curriculum broken into two years. The learning outcome will not be the same. If you do not want to suffer this dichotomy then start on the right track - enroll for a degree program. Any attempt to bridge this dichotomy will encourage laziness and people will not pursue merit but ease of obtaining certificates. This will be a dangerous trend for the educational development of our nation.

J. Geoffrey

jwangeoffrey@yahoo.com *********************** The issue of dichotomy between degree/HND holders is totally misplaced. When a state fails, this is what you see. The committee set up by GEJ will achieve nothing. When polytechnics were set up, they produced middle level manpower for industries, commerce and rare fields that universities could not provide e.g. Marketing, Insurance Textile technology, printing etc. Kadpoly graduates of yore just walked into any textile mill and got a job. All of a sudden, universities left their core mandate and jumped into all manner of Diploma programmes under the pretext of raising internally generated revenue, hence polytechnic graduates became superfluous. Even public service circulars to the effect that only polytechnic diplomas be recognized for employment were and are being brazenly ignored. If the industrial sector of our economy had not collapsed, polytechnic graduates would have been taking more high paying jobs. The only remedy is to revive the industrial sector at federal and state levels and the issue of dichotomy will fizzle out.

Nator Agom

natoragom08@yahoo.com *********************** All other parts of the world admit people with HND directly for masters; only Nigeria, which none of its universities is listed among the first 500 universities in the world, doesn’t.

Usman A. G.

usmang9669@gmail.com