Appraisal of the Federal Polytechnics (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Nigeria: Issues and Options for Stronger Polytechnics Education in Nigeria

The mandate of polytechnic education all over the world is to produce middle and high level manpower in technology, and applied sciences to engender development. The purpose is to produce more technically trained graduates. A new Federal Polytechnics (Amendment) Acts 2019 came into being in Nigeria on May 20th 2019. The Act amended the Federal Polytechnics Act Cap F17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. Some of the innovations brought about by the new law include introduction of high level manpower into the mandates of Polytechnic education in Nigeria, inclusion of the Deans and Directors to the Management Committee of the Polytechnics and the mandates that they should be meeting every month, abolishment of second tenure for the Principal Officers of the Polytechnics, the mandates that only Chief Lecturers from the Polytechnic sector can be appointed the Rector, harmonization of the 65 years as the compulsory retirement age for both Academic and Non-Academic staff of the Polytechnics in Nigeria amongst others, while the observed limitations include the discrimination against the State and Private Polytechnics in Nigeria, that only one Non-Academic staff included in the composition of the Governing Council, that the Registrar of the Polytechnics in Nigeria is no longer by the Law a member of the Governing Council and Academic Board,the exclusion of the representatives of the regulatory body, the NBTE from the composition of the Governing Council, the new Act did not streamline the Powers, functions and relationships between the Governing Council and Management of the Polytechnics in Nigeria, the Act only provides for the qualifications of the Rector and did not stipulates the qualifications for other principal officers, that Director of Works of the Polytechnics excluded from the principal officers of the polytechnics. Some recommendations were proffered which include amongst others that the regulatory body of the Polytechnics in Nigeria, NBTE should liaise with the Federal Ministry of Education and send directives to the 36 State Commissioners of Education in Nigeria compelling them to initiate and forward bills to their respective Houses of Assembly for the domestication of the Federal Polytechnic (Amendment) Act, 2019 to all the State Government owned and private Polytechnics, in Nigeria.