Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Some students of Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa, owned by Oyo State Government, protested on the institution’s campus, yesterday, over non-mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, two years after completing their Higher National Diploma (HND).
The students also lamented that the institution has refused to issue Certificate of Completion of HND to them in the last two years. They averred that issuance of the certificate could have probably helped some of them secure jobs.
Daily Sun went to the polytechnic and met some offices and lecture rooms locked up by the protesting students. The action partially paralysed academic activities on the campus, yesterday.
One of the protesting students, Olaoluwa Ademoyega, said: “We came here on a peaceful protest, in order to show our displeasure on the state of our education in this polytechnic.
We are yet to be given our admission letters two years after we have graduated. Our certificates have not been issued to us. And, we are yet to go for NYSC; due to non-accreditation of the courses we studied when we were in school.
“We want the school management to ensure accreditation of our courses so we can go for our service. We are also calling on the Oyo state government to look into these issues and resolve them.”
Speaking with newsmen during the protest in Eruwa, President of Oyo State chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr. Moronkola Teslim, said the students staged the protest to demand for their rights, which the management of the institution allegedly denied them; in the last two years.
Teslim noted that NANS, as a body, is also behind the protest because it is part of its duties to listen to the cries of Nigerian students.
He stated further that the school management should address the issue by giving room for dialogue with the students.
Teslim also said the management should be sincere with its promise to resolve the issues.
“We decided to join this protest because we want justice to prevail. The students have been denied their rights for two consecutive years. The school authorities and the government of Oyo state should come to the aid of these students,” Teslim said.
Deputy Rector of the institution, Dr. Peter Adejumo, who assured the students that the management has been on top of the situation, informed them that the rector is currently in Kaduna, meeting with the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE); concerning accreditation.
Said Adejumo: “In 2014, NBTE came to our institution for the validation of all our programmes; 22 programmes were validated and NBTE also came for resource inspection.
“There was deficiency in core engineering courses, which needed to be upgraded and this was what led to non-accreditation of the course.
“We did not have any issue with our National Diploma (ND) courses. It is only some of our HND courses that we are having issues with. We are trying to source for funds through other means, so that we can resolve the issue.”
Adejumo stated that paucity of funds was responsible for non-accreditation of the courses, and also, added that subvention to the polytechnic, from Oyo state government is not enough to take care of the institution.