- A long-running injustice has finally been ended
The formal cessation of the discriminatory distinction between holders of the Higher National Diploma (HND) from monotechnics and polytechnics, and Bachelor’s degree holders from universities is a triumph of social justice, equity and fair play.
The welcome news was made public through a circular issued in March by the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, in which she indicated that the National Council on Establishment (NCE) had abolished the dichotomy between the two sets of graduates. Both groups will now enjoy the same salary scales at the entry point of their careers, and will be able to reach the same heights of professional achievement without discrimination.
For a nation sorely lacking in critical human resources, the discriminatory treatment of diploma-holders in the civil service and in the private sector is completely unjustifiable. For decades, diploma-holders have had to endure lower salary scales and artificial ceilings on their career progression simply because they went to polytechnics rather than universities.
The widespread perception appeared to be that diploma-holders were somehow inferior to their degree-carrying counterparts, and therefore deserving of lower pay and less-beneficial conditions of service, regardless of how competent and effective they might be. Such narrow-mindedness is in fact only an aspect of the systematic devaluation of non-theoretical forms of learning, including vocational and technical education.
It has resulted in a country that is facing critical shortages of the artisans, technicians and artificers that are vital to building a modern industrial economy. Culturally-divergent countries like Germany, Japan and South Korea are united in their emphasis on the vital importance of vocational training and technical education as motors of accelerated employment and economic growth.
Instead of focusing on the fact that both sets of graduates had different strengths and skill sets that were designed to be complementary rather than competitive, Nigerian employers chose to discriminate against one group in favour of the other. The bitterness, frustration and damage to individual careers, corporate harmony and overall national development can only be imagined.
As is often the case in Nigeria, the diploma-degree battle does not end simply because there has been an official pronouncement. The Federal Government must now move to ensure that the NCE’s resolutions are implemented as quickly and as comprehensively as possible. There is no reason, for example, why it should not be immediately applicable to all diploma-holders entering employment. Nor should those currently employed not benefit from the changes in accordance with their current positions.
A system of monitoring must be set up to ensure total compliance and provide feedback mechanisms so that complaints can be quickly and effectively dealt with. Such a process should be established preferably in consultation with groups like the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).
There are wider implications that must also be given consideration as well. Now that diploma-degree harmony has been finally achieved, what are the likely consequences for the vexed issue of converting polytechnics to universities? It would appear that the harmonisation policy makes this objective moot. That approach, however, does not nullify the strong arguments for conversion and the benefits that it would bring.
It is possible to have the best of both worlds by fully implementing the harmonisation policy and going ahead with plans to convert viable polytechnics to universities. It is not a zero-sum game in which one must benefit at the expense of the other.
Indeed, the resolution of diploma-degree disharmony should serve to boost efforts to re-examine Nigeria’s tertiary education curriculum with the aim of making them much more relevant to contemporary requirements.
