Bill to End HND, BSc Dichotomy Scales – Second Reading

A bill to eliminate the distinction and discrimination between bachelor’s degree holders and Higher National Diploma (HND) holders has advanced to a second reading in the House of Representatives.

According to the speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, the bill sought to replace HND with a Bachelor of Technology so that polytechnic graduates could compete more effectively with other university graduates.

The bill, supported by Fuad Laguda of Lagos State, also stressed the value of technical education.Speaker Abbas stated that all polytechnic boards in Nigeria support the removal of HND in favour of a Bachelor of Technology, so that polytechnic graduates can compete with those from universities.

“At the same time, they are advocating for hybrid supervision, with the NUC (National Universities Commission) handling the degree component of polytechnic education and the NBTE (National Board for Technical Education) continuing to handle the national diploma.

“Because of the degree component of this amendment, they felt that the qualification for being rector should also be upgraded to a Ph.D. holder at the minimum since you will now be talking about degree programs;

it is only proper for such a kind of establishment to have a Ph.D. holder as the head of the institution,” he told reporters.
Abbas put the bill to a voice vote, and the parliamentarians agreed to move it to the second reading.