NBTE Laments Over Increase Rate of Fake Polytechnics

It became alarming across the nation’s technical education system as The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) expressed concern over the proliferation of unaccredited and unlicensed private polytechnics, monotechnics and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) in the country.

The statistic according to the NBTE Executive Secretary, Dr. Manzuid Kazaure, shows that over 65 of such institutions were operating as well as deceiving and defrauding innocent parents and students.

He stressed that the illegal institutions were in the habit of admitting students with claims that they run programmes leading to the awards of National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) certificates.

However, Dr. Kazaure, who said security agencies have been alerted on the issue with a view to clamp down on operators, confirmed that some top officials of the Programmes Department of the NBTE were being investigated over issuance of registration licenses to some private institutions.

Dr. Kazaure, who shelved his pressing commitments to have an exclusive interview with The Nation, said an investigating team has been dispatched to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, to probe an illegal institution that has been operating there.

“An investigating team has been sent to Uyo, while the Abuja case has been concluded. The Minister of Education will soon receive the report,” Dr Kazaure said.

He stressed that officials of the Programmes Department, who were culpable in the licensing of such institutions, would “face the full wrath of the law”.

The academia, lamented over the worrisome this sudden development has posted on the Board over the sudden rise in the number of private polytechnics, monotechnics and IEIs.

It was gathered that the NBTE has been inundated with complaints that such sudden rise could not be possible, except those saddled with the responsibility of checking the activities of the illegal institutions have either compromised or lowered the standard.