EZREL TABIOWO amidst a recap of previous attempts to end discrimination against HND holders in the country examines the possibility of so doing with the recent intervention by the National Assembly
Despite several attempts by previous administrations to end the existing discrimination foisted on holders of Higher National Diploma from polytechnics across the country by private and government agencies, same has been made to seem like an exercise in futility on the path of government.
In 2006, the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration in a move to end to the regime of discrimination approved a new policy reversing the existing one which restricts holders of the Higher National Diploma (HND) from rising above salary grade level 14 in the public service, unlike their University graduate counterparts.
The new policy at the time was looked upon as the beginning of a new dawn and ray of hope for HND holders in the country, as it was assumed same would bring to an end the lingering dichotomy that pitched HND graduates against Bsc graduates from the universities and made the HND the subject of discrimination in promotion and job prospects, one which unfortunately never even played out.
President Obasanjo while attempting to enforce the policy gave the directive at a meeting with members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Minister of Education at the time, Chinwe Obaji.
The President had directed his then Chief of Staff, Mohammed Abdullahi, and former Head of Service, Yayale Ahmed, to immediately prepare a position paper reflecting the new position so that the government can forthwith commence its implementation.
One of the lawmakers that attended the meeting at the presidential villa and who is presently a serving Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Ahmad Lawan, after the meeting explained that Obasanjo accepted to end the discrimination against HND holders because he was convinced they could be more useful to the nation without the restriction placed on them.
Lawan who chaired the House Committee on Education at the time said, “So many HND holders have contributed or are contributing very meaningfully to the development of Nigeria but the discrimination that is put on them, that if you reach Level 14 you cannot go any further than that, places some kind of disadvantage not only the holders but on the country as well.”
But in what may be considered a ridiculous development four years later, the Minister of Education between 2010 and 2013 under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai revealed that no formal document has been presented by Federal Government to bring the Higher National Diploma and degree qualifications at par, despite public outcry against the existing dichotomy between the two holders for several years.
The former minister who made the disclosure during a meeting with members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) in Abuja said that the refusal to submit a final document to the federal government to enable the executive arm of government bring the Higher National Diploma at par with the Bachelors degree was a decision taken by the National Council on Establishments (NCE).
Rufa’i said the NCE, which is a body of all Heads of Service of the Federation, would have to sit and rectify the decision but a memo was yet to be formally presented to the council.
Kicking against the discrimination, the former minister said: “The best thing is to initiate a memo that can be represented before the national council; and I believe that by the time a case can be made I don’t see why there should be dichotomy.”
In essence, what the minister said has reopened the debate about the old dichotomy which sees polytechnic graduates not rising beyond certain level in the civil service and other government agencies as well as private institutions.
For instance, in its recruitment, the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) treats HND and degree holders separately. While polytechnic graduates are enlisted into the service on Grade Level GL 7, their university counterparts are taken on an entry point of GL 8. And while insiders say HND holders hardly go beyond level 14 in the Customs, degree holders can rise to level 17 and even become Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service.
Contrasting Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai position, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation Stephen Oronsaye in a reaction to the existent discrimination between HND and Bsc holders, said that the Higher National Diploma (HND) is not equivalent to a university degree.
Oronsaye, who was answering questions in Abuja at the time, said “it is not the same curriculum; that is the truth.”
He said then that the Federal Ministry of Education was currently working on a scheme to enable HND graduates to spend an additional year to obtain “something that will be equivalent to B.Scor B.Ed.”
Oransanye said: “Let me also say this to you, that there is a body, the National Council on Establishments where this thing was tabled. And unanimously, all of them said it cannot be equal; and that is the highest body to take this decision.”
However, the Head of Service, who said he knew of a white paper mandating the equation of both qualifications, advised HND holders to “better themselves”.
“I know that the Federal Ministry of Education is already doing something through the NUC.
“The holders of the HND or OND should actually avail themselves of that opportunity to better themselves so that they can aspire to get to grade level 17.
“I am not one of those who will shy away from saying it the way it is,” Oronsaye said.
National Assembly Intervention
The Senate in its bid to intervene had two weeks ago considered a Bill for an Act to abolish and prohibit dichotomy and discrimination between first degrees and the Higher National Diploma in the same profession in Nigeria.
Sponsored by Senator Ayo Akinyelure, representing Ondo Central Senatorial District, the bill seeks to end wage disparity and discrimination against HND holders in both public and private establishments in the country.
Leading debate on the bill, Akinyelure said: “The aftermath of continuing injustices, disparity and discrimination meted on products of polytechnics in Nigeria is threatening to derail the nation’s core policy thrust of evolving a technological and scientifically based self-reliant society in the nearest future.
“As I speak, thousands of would-be polytechnic and technology students are contemplating or have decided to opt for university education, because of perceived and real discrimination against HND graduates.
“Over the years, several entreaties have been put forth to the Federal Civil Service authorities to put a stop to certain glaring wage disparities and discrimination against the HND holders, and all these have been to no avail.”
He condemned the actions of certain federal parastatal whom he accused of discriminating against HND holders, and as well hindering their elevation within the ranks.
“To all intents and purposes, a government employment policy that places degree holders ahead of HND holders without recourse to skill and ability of the HND holder thereof, does more harm than good to the nation’s development.”
Akinyelure, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, argued that indications showed that polytechnic graduates of accountancy, engineering and some other professional disciplines demonstrate proficiency and expertise than university degree holders.
He said attempts made during the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to bring the HND at par with the degree, by the National Council of Establishment, did not succeed because they discovered that the problem was with curriculum of polytechnic and that of the university, which could not be tampered with.
The intervention by the National Assembly, which is seen as a welcome development especially on the path of disenfranchised HND holders across the country, has however left a douse of doubt as to whether the passage of such bill would cripple all bureaucratic conspiracies aimed at ensuring that all attempts to end the dichotomy are out rightly frustrated.
In view of efforts by the Obasanjo administration to end discrimination against HND holders in Nigeria, it behooves on President Goodluck Jonathan to therefore ensure that the bill, should it be passed, is given assent immediately just so as to ensure that the intervention by the legislature does not go down as yet another rescue in futility.
