The National Universities Commission has disowned the National Board for Technical Education top-up programme claiming to bridge the gap between polytechnic and university degrees.
This brought about a bill passed at the ninth National Assembly in 2021 to end the dichotomy but it was not signed into law by the last administration. “Even though agitation continues to grow for the abolition of the dichotomy in Nigeria, there is, at the moment, no law that has removed the dichotomy between a university degree and the HND.“The university degree awarded by the Nigerian university system or any cognate institution is not the same as the HND awarded by polytechnics in Nigeria.
“In light of the above, the advice of the NUC is that the NBTE should focus on its core mandate and desist from introducing programmes outside its jurisdiction, and not supported by any law in Nigeria. ” So, eventhough agitation continues to grow for the abolition of the dichotomy in Nigeria, there is, at the moment, no law that has removed the dichotomy between a university degree and the HND.