ASUP set to meet NBTE iver directive on Lecturers without master’s degrees

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The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has announced plans to engage the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) regarding a reported directive that lecturers without a master’s degree would be reclassified as non-academic staff.

ASUP National President, Shammah Kpanja, disclosed this in an interview with Sunday PUNCH in Abuja on Saturday.

Findings by Sunday PUNCH revealed that the NBTE had instructed that academic staff in polytechnics and other Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions who fail to obtain a master’s degree within five years of employment would be converted to non-teaching staff.

The directive was contained in a circular signed by NBTE’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris Bugaje, dated September 10, and addressed to rectors and provosts of TVET institutions.

Bugaje, in the circular, expressed concern that many degree and Higher National Diploma holders employed as lecturers had failed to upgrade their qualifications. According to him, the regulatory board has approved a five-year grace period for academic staff to earn a master’s degree.

The circular partly read: “Any academic staff member who fails to acquire a master’s after five years of employment shall be converted from academic staff to non-teaching staff. This is to improve teaching standards in polytechnics and other TVET institutions in line with global best practices.

However, Kpanja explained that the union was still trying to verify the authenticity of the circular. He said, “We just saw the circular like anybody else. You know the first thing is that letters from NBTE usually carry a QR code. When we tried to check the QR code, we discovered that the letter is probably not coming from NBTE.”

He added, “However, whether it is coming from the NBTE or not, our union will meet and take a position on it. We have what is called a scheme of service that determines the type of work and your work schedule. It also determines your career progression.”

Kpanja further stated, “There are conditions for employment and conditions for promotion. Now, this circular released by NBTE is not in tandem with the scheme of service.”

While reaffirming ASUP’s commitment to academic excellence, he noted, “We as a union encourage scholarship. We encourage productivity. We have to make sure that as academic staff people develop themselves through the attainment of higher qualifications. But while we are totally in support of productivity and the enhancement of scholarship, we also have to be careful and look at it vis-à-vis the guidelines for promotion and appointment of academic staff.”

It will be recalled that NBTE recently issued a three-year ultimatum for principal lecturers in polytechnics to obtain doctoral degrees, stressing that the directive was aligned with the national scheme of service and had been cleared by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation

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