From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

Federal government has fired the heads of 17 parastatals  in the Ministry of Education, while four chief executives were retained in their respective agencies.
The affected Chief Executives are Nigerian Institute For Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), National Universities Commission (NUC) Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) National Library of Nigeria (NLN) National Examinations Council (NECO) National Commission For Mass Literacy, Adult And Non-Formal Education (NCMLA&NE)
Others are Nomadic Education Commission (NEC) National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria  (TRCN) Computer Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) National Commission For Colleges of Education (NCCE)Tertiary Education Tax Fund (TETFund) National Teachers Institute (NTI) Librarian Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) National Mathematical Centre, Sheda (NMC)Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)National Institute of Nigerian Languages (NINLAN)
A statement issued in Abuja yesterday by the Director of Press in the Ministry of Education noted that the decision took effect from Monday , August 1st, 2016.
The statement also announced the replacement for the sacked Chief Executives. They are Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed (NUC), Prof. Mrs. Lilian Salami (NIEPA), Dr. Hameed Bobboyi (UBEC) Prof. Lanre O. Aina (NLN) Prof. Charles Uwakwe (NECO), Prof. Abba Haladu (NCMLA&NE), Prof. Bashir H. Usman (NEC) Prof. Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe (NABTEB) Prof. Sunday Josiah Ajiboye (TRCN) Afolabi N. Aderinto (CPN), Prof. Bappah Aliyu(NCCE).
Others are Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa (TETFUND ) Prof. Garba Dahuwa Azare (NTI), Prof. Michael Afolabi (LRCN) Prof. StevenEjugwu Onah (NMC) Prof. Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyode (JAMB) Prof. Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche (NINLAN).
The four chief executives who retained their respective agencies are Prof Samaila Junaidu Nigeria Educational Research & Development Council (NERDC), Prof Raauf Adebisi Nigerian French Language Village Badagry, (NFLV)  Dr Mas’ud A. Kazaure National Board For Technical Education (NBTE)  and Prof Muhammad Mu’az National Arabic Language Village, Maiduguri, Borno State (NALV)
The 17 new Chief Executives are expected to report to the office of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu today for further briefing.


... Denies scrapping HND

The Federal Ministry of Education has denied the rumour making the rounds of social media about a decision said to have emanated from it to scrap Higher National Diploma (HND), and replace it with Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in a bid to end the discrimination between HND and bachelors degree holders.
The source quoted the Federal Executive Council (which Daily Sun learnt is yet to meet, deliberate and take a decision on the matter) as approving not only the scrapping of HND but also the merging of polytechnics with universities for the award of B.Tech.
“Thus, the Federal Government has restricted the award to only the students currently on admission for the various programmes country in a move the Minister of Education, Dr. Adamu Adamu, stated forms part of the comprehensive reform of the tertiary education sector,” some of the online media stated. “This is just as the Federal Government is set to scrap programmes currently being run by the polytechnics, which are not technology-based.”
Quoting the Minister of Education, it further stated that, “under the new rule, the polytechnics will now become campuses of the proximate universities with the Vice Chancellors of those universities appointing provosts for the polytechnics, subject to the ratification of the Universities’ Councils.
“Adamu stated that with the new arrangement, polytechnics will now be limited to award of the National Diploma (ND) while those desirous of further education will be awarded the Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) by the proximate university.”
The rumour also quoted the Federal Executive Council to have approved only two polytechnics – Yaba College of Technology and Kaduna Polytechnic as degree-awarding institutions. “They will change their nomenclature as they would now be known as City University of Technology, Yaba and City University of Technology, Kaduna. And to give legal teeth to these approvals, the FEC approved the submission of two Executive bills to the National Assembly for enactment into law.”
Investigation by the Daily Sun showed that the rumour was deliberately planted to pre-empt the decision of the Federal Executive Council meeting on the matter this week.
But sources said Federal government has chosen to put on hold the much- awaited decision on BSC/HND dichotomy which was intended to abolish or neutralise the disparity between the university graduates and Polythecnics graduates particularly as it concerns employment in public and private sectors.
Daily Sun gathered that, as a follow up to the Minister’s announcement in Kaduna last week, the Ministry of Education had planned to make formal announcement on the policy this week but had to take last minute decision to put it on hold pending further consultations and input from relevant authorities particularly the National Council on Establishments before formal announcement of the policy.
The Minister had raised the hope of Polythecnic students who are mostly affected by the disparity when he announced at Kaduna Polythecnic convocation last week that the federal government has concluded plans to abolish the dichotomy that hitherto existed between these two educational qualifications.
A reliable source in the Ministry told our correspondent that the Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu and the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan had given their approval for the policy to come on stream, but was later advised to seek further clarifications from the National Council on Establishments and other relevant stakeholders on how best the policy can be implemented.
“This is serious government policy that has effect on millions of Nigerian students. So the Minister is very careful not to make a mistake that would further compound the issue,” Mr. Ben Goong, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, , Federal Ministry of Education, said. “To this end, he (the Minister) has decided to wait for the input of the National Council on Establishments and as well as the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) before it could be formally announced,” the source said.
Reacting to the rumour, the National President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Usman Dutse said: “I don’t know where you got the information from. We tried to find out whether it came from the Federal Ministry of Education but they said they are not aware. We read the information online.  In the last National Executive Council (NEC) meeting nothing like that was discussed. What we know is that the dichotomy between B.Sc and HND has been removed.”