NEW NIGERIAN
October 24, 2007

 Polys barred from admitting Business, Art students
From ISMAIL MUDASHIR, Kaduna

A TOTAL of 32 polytechnics across the country have been barred from admitting students into Business and Art programmes by the regulatory body of polytechnics, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

The board has also released the 2007/2008 academic year carrying capacity, admission quota for all the programmes run by polytechnics based on the available resources necessary for imparting knowledge at the institutions and in line with the National Policy on Education (NPE) stipulated 70:30 enrolment ratio in favour of technology-based programmes.

Executive Secretary of NBTE, Engr. Nuru A. Yakubu, who disclosed this yesterday in a statement issued by Head, Media and Publicity of the board, Malam Lawal Y. Hafiz lamented that over the years polytechnics have derailed from the objective of training technical manpower in preference for management and business related courses.

The NBTE boss vowed that the board would correct the anomaly by suspending admissions into non-technology based programmes in institutions with low enrolment in technology-based courses until the ratio is corrected.

The board’s action, he explained, was not punitive but necessary steps to restore the quality of training being given to students in the institutions and to achieve the national target of 70:30 enrolment ratio, pointing out that the institutions and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had been formally notified of the development.

Expatiating further, he said the board’s guidelines demand that admissions into individual programmes should not exceed two class streams of 30 students for technology-based programmes and 40 students for non-technology-based programmes.

“The decision to enforce the carrying capacity as well as the 70:30 ratio followed the discovery of outrageous enrolment in total disregard to the board guidelines. For instance, in a recent survey it was discovered that in a particular polytechnic, up to 85 per cent of the students were enrolled in business and related programmes. Yet in another polytechnic where the carrying capacity was barely 5,000, it had enrolled over 30,000 students, majority of whom were on part-time business programmes,” he noted.

The affected institutions include Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Abuja School of Accountancy, Allover Central Polytechnic Sango Otta, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Owo, Osun State Polytechnic Iree, Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Federal Polytechnic Idah, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Kwara State Polytechnic Ilorin and Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.

Others are Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu, Federal Polytechnic Kaura Namoda, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Zaria, Nasarawa State Polytechnic Lafia, Federal Polytechnic Oko, Abia State Polytechnic Aba, Grace Polytechnic Lagos, Institute of Management and Technology Enugu, and the Polytechnic of Ibadan, among others.