Victoria Mbangwa
Education stakeholders have warned that Nigeria risks losing a wealth of technical talent and stifling national development if the lingering disparity between Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bachelor’s Degree qualifications is not addressed urgently.
Despite a bill passed by the National Assembly in 2021 to abolish discrimination between the two qualifications, the legislation remains unsigned leaving thousands of HND graduates stuck in professional limbo, unable to rise beyond civil service Level 14 regardless of merit or performance.
Dr. Ibraheem Abdul, Rector of Yaba College of Technology, said in an interview on Friday that Nigeria’s insistence on valuing theoretical qualifications over practical skills is undermining its own developmental goals.
“The Federal Government should upgrade some well-established polytechnics to degree-awarding institutions or convert them to universities of technology, with a strong focus on practical skills,” Abdul said.
He called for the upgrade of top-performing polytechnics to degree-awarding status or their conversion into full-fledged universities of technology a model practiced in many industrialized countries.
“Absence of a Bachelor Degree could still hunt a diploma graduate,” Abdul added, urging curriculum reform and structured conversion programs that could help HND holders transition into equivalent professional roles.
Mr. Ojo Monday, Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), YabaTech Chapter, echoed the concern, stressing that the dichotomy is not just discriminatory, but also harmful to the growth of the nation’s technical and vocational education sector.
“The way out is conversion of polytechnics to universities as done in the United Kingdom or adopting the model of polytechnic universities with greater emphasis on hand-on skill and vocational training,” Monday said. “Post Graduate Diploma is not even bridging the Bachelor’s Degree/HND gap, In a normal circumstance, PGD is supposed to close the gap but in reality it is not so.”
For many HND holders like Silvia, who shared her experience with NAN, the stigma has real-world consequences ranging from being sidelined during job applications to stagnation in career progression.
“We need a government policy to drive a change of perception,” she said. “This is because HND holders have faced challenges in the job market, often feeling marginalised.”
Observers say the prolonged delay in signing the anti-discrimination bill into law is a missed opportunity for national inclusion and productivity. The bill, titled “An Act to Abolish and Prohibit Dichotomy and Discrimination Between First Degree and Higher National Diploma in the Same Profession/Field for the Purpose of Employment”, was passed by both legislative chambers in 2021 but has since remained dormant.
Analysts argue that aligning the nation’s employment policies with global standards where practical skills and technical expertise are respected equally with academic degrees would not only boost the morale of graduates but also position Nigeria to better leverage its polytechnic system in addressing youth unemployment and economic challenges.
