The Chairman of Governing Council of British Transatlantic Polytechnic, Akure, Ondo state, Dr Joe Obe, wants the Federal government to put an end to the perceived discrimination of Polytechnic education in the country by granting polytechnic degree awarding powers.
Dr Obe made the call during the 2024/2025 Matriculation ceremony of 120 new students of the institution.
According to him “majority of the Nigeria society wrongly perceived polytechnic education as a second class education system compared to the University.
He said that such situation discourages production of technologically skilled graduates required to drive the Nigeria economy.
The solution to the current socio-economic development, Obe said “is to produce huge number of highly skilled graduates that can develop the micro-economy system through entrepreneurship and skills innovations.
Obe regretted that most of the Nigerian University graduates are theory-centric and lack adequate functional skills required to run the engine of the economy.
He noted that “With the unprecedented level of brain drain accompanied with the popular japa era, Nigeria are fast losing his limited skilled labourers in Engineering, technology and IT, a situation that portends great danger to the economic growth and development of Nigeria.
“By allowing the polytechnic to have degree awarding powers, more students will be encouraged to study in the polytechnic and by so doing increase the nation’s manpower.
While congratulating the matriculating students, the chairman, assured the students that they “will break the discrimination barriers as their training are also enriched with the British curriculum, which gives them leverage to compete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
According to him, ‘”graduates of the British Transatlantic Polytechnic, Akure will be able to stand tall and get job mostly in Britain, Europe and the USA because they are already exposed to the internationalised curriculum and job-ready training including job interview and employability skills.
” We are breaking boundaries and barriers to job opportunities and systemic discrimination.
Recall that the British Transatlantic Polytechnic, Akure got licence to operate as a private polytechnic in Nigeria by the federal government of Nigeria in January 2023 and offered up to 100% tuition fee waiver for all students through the help of the British Transatlantic Education Foundation, a registered education charity in Nigeria.
