In a move aimed at reforming Nigeria’s tertiary education system, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has approved one-year moratorium on new applications for polytechnics and monotechnics.
The government, however, said it exempted health institutions due to low enrollment challenges.
The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education(NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, disclosed this on Thursday in Kaduna.
Bugaje said the moratorium which takes immediate effect means that all new applications for polytechnics and monotechnics are put on hold for 12 months.
He, however, said institutions currently being assessed will be required to pay specific fees to continue the registration process.
A statement said: “Polytechnics awaiting ministerial approval will be required to pay an application fee of N4 million and a processing fee of N2 million per program of study.
“Monotechnics, on the other hand, will pay an application fee of N2 million and a processing fee of N1 million per program of study.
“Applicants have 30 days to pay these fees, failure to which will result in the termination of the registration process.
“New health institutions, which are exempted from the moratorium, will pay the same fees as Monotechnics for registration.”
According Bugaje, the primary goal of this move is to ensure that tertiary Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions operate within their approved capacity limits, thereby promoting efficient utilization of resources.
Persecondnews reports that Nigeria boasts of 179 registered polytechnics, comprising 41 federal polytechnics, 54 state polytechnics, and 84 private polytechnics.
In addition, Nigeria has 92 federal monotechnics, 54 state monotechnics, and 37 private monotechnics.
Leave a comment