1>>The Rector of the Ogun State-owned D.S
Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic, Itori, in the
Ewekoro area of the state, Dr. Alfred Fatade,
has called on the Federal Government to put
an end to the discrimination against holders of
the Higher National Diploma in the country, by
releasing the White Paper on the BSc/HND
dichotomy. Fatade made this call on Monday,
while fielding questions from journalists during
a briefing on activities lined up for the first-
ever combined convocation ceremony of the
institution and 10th year anniversary of the
institution. The rector noted that it was high
time the discrimination was removed to
enhance technological development in the
country. While he frowned on the craze for
paper qualifications, Fatade advised that
emphasis should be on skill acquistion and
development. He said, “Efforts were made by
the administration of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo and it proclaimed the end
to the dichotomy. But lack of White Paper
frustrated the pronouncement, while a similar
proclamation made by President Muhammadu
Buhari this year has yet to be implemented.
“Until that is done, the discrimination will
continue.” Fatade, however, urged the Federal
Government to, as a matter of urgency, release
the White Paper on the HND/ BSc dichotomy
for proper implementation.
The rector said that the first convocation
ceremony of the school since inception in
2006 would come up on Saturday, with 3,874
graduating in OND programmes in seven
different courses.
Fatade said the officials of the National Board
for Technical Education, Kaduna, would be
visiting the institution between December 14
and 17, in connection with the accreditation of
six HND courses and six new OND courses.
He said the institution had approval for the
implementation of promotion for the backlog
of staff from 2010 to 2016. He, therefore, said
that the polytechnic was ready to offer courses
in multimedia technology and forensic
accounting, if eventually given approval by the
NBTE
