ASUP absolves FG over non-conversion of Auchi Poly to university
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has blamed the management of Auchi Polytechnic over the non-conversion of the institution to a university.
Its president, Malam Sulayman Ali, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Auchi, Edo State, that the lapse was responsible for the institution being left out under the on-going reforms in the education sector.
``To a large extent, I agree that some of these institutions, like Auchi Polytechnic should be held responsible for not being upgraded because the infrastructural development and quality of staff were poor,'' he said.
Ali explained that a 1999 report to the government recommended four polytechnics, which included Auchi, Kaduna, Yaba, and the IMT, Enugu for upgrading to degree-awarding institutions on experimental basis.
``It was a surprise to us that Auchi Polytechnic was left out in the recent conversion.
``The surprise was how come Auchi Polytechnic was not involved since government was trying to experiment?'' he queried.
``But again, we discovered that in terms of quality personnel, some of these polytechnics have very robust personnel development programmes which Auchi Polytechnic lacked.
``In terms of infrastructure, we discovered that some of these institutions have what we could not fault, so much so that we could not fault government's judgment in some aspects,'' Ali said.
The ASUP president explained that ``the paucity of quality staff also contributed to a large extent to why Auchi Polytechnic did not get converted, even though it met the conditions of age and number of staff and student population.''
He, however, blamed government for its ineptitude by not ensuring that these institutions implemented these conditions through proper supervision.
``Unfortunately, government did not also emphasise that all institutions should ensure that they adhere strictly to staff development which Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology benefited from,'' he said.
He added that these criteria were based on a 1999 finding, and urged government to urgently go back for a re-appraisal as most of these institutions had since met the conditions that would qualify them for upgrading.
``We are saying that 1999 is a long time ago and these institutions definitely have met these conditions. So, let government go back to them for a re-assessment,'' he advised.
``Those polytechnics that have met the standard should also be upgraded to a degree-awarding institution if they can not be converted outright,'' he added.