The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has announced today, that it will initiate industrial action if the government does not suspend the new Scheme of Service in Nigeria Polytechnics, which came into effect on June 7.
The Auchi Polytechnic chapter in Edo State made this decision during an emergency congress meeting. Speaking to journalists, ASUP Auchi Chapter Chairman, Bamidele Osamudiamen, described the new scheme as a “dead-end” for the growth and development of polytechnic education.
“Starting from Monday, we will kick start the process with a protest on the new scheme, while this will be followed by a strike,” Osamudiamen stated. He emphasized that the new scheme hinders the career progression of lecturers in the polytechnic system and undermines recent advancements in the sector.
Osamudiamen criticized the new scheme for reinforcing the HND-BSc dichotomy, promoting discriminatory practices that favor university degree holders over HND holders. “The unfair career progression guide in the sector, particularly as it affects the teaching and non-teaching staff cadres, is a recipe for crises,” he said. “It is not reflective of the remuneration accruing to the cadres.”
He further condemned the scheme for extending the career progression steps of the lecturer cadre from a 7-step to a 9-step career development cadre, and for adding an extra year for promotion to the final two levels. “This implies that anyone on the lecturer cadre will now endure a minimum of 26 years from the base to the highest level,” Osamudiamen explained. “This is not acceptable, particularly in view of the fact that this deviates from the norm in other sub-sectors and that the retirement age in the sector remains unchanged.”
Auchi Polytechnic Rector, Dr. Salisu Umar, supported the lecturers’ protest against the new scheme and praised the national body of polytechnic for their stance. “The new scheme will kill polytechnic education in the country, hence, it should be suspended,” he asserted.
Dr. Umar expressed his concerns about the downgrading and relegation of polytechnic education. “For instance, it takes a maximum of 18 years for a university lecturer to become a professor; but in the polytechnic, it takes a minimum of 18 years to become a chief lecturer,” he noted. “Polytechnic lecturers are made to play third fiddle or even second fiddle.”
He concluded by stating, “The new scheme of service is faulty and fraught with lots of irregularities and should be thrown away.”
