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From Sola Ojo, Abuja
The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has flayed the refusal of the National Youth Service Board (NBTE) to register graduates of Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) from Polytechnics at orientation camps across the country.
According to the Board, the affected graduates were accused of not registering with Professional Registration Certification with National Institute for Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT) before they were mobilised to serve.
A letter signed by the Executive Director of the NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, titled: “Refusal to register students of HND Science Laboratory Technology programme at NYSC orientation camps”, dated August 28, accused NYSC of taking a directive from a mere professional body rather than a constituted board.
The letter read: “The attention of the Board has just been drawn to the report that all Polytechnic graduates with HND Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) were refused registration at the NYSC Camps due to not having Professional Registration Certification with National
Institute for Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT).
“I write to bring to your attention that at no time did the NBTE accept registration with any professional body as a condition for graduation.
“We do carry out joint accreditation of programs together with the National Institute for Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT) and such other professional bodies as covered in our MoU.
The NYSC should have sought clearance from the NBTE as regulators of the Polytechnic sector before taking this decision.
Polytechnics are regulated by the NBTE and no professional body shall be allowed to take over that mandate.
“I therefore write to the NYSC to please rescind this instruction and allow HND graduates of all fields and professions to be mobilized. Professional bodies can wait for these graduates after NYSC to register with them, for those who wish to practice. The Head of Service of the Federation circular on this matter still holds”.
The leadership of the NYSC has not responded to inquiries on the development as of the time of filing this report.
