His Excellency Barr Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, Exceutive Governor of Plateau State has provided funds for the accreditation of almost all the courses of Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi. This rare demonstration of commitment to reverse the ugly trend that has seen education, especially Polytechnic Educaion, nosedived on the Plateau is in fulfilment of the TIME IS NOW mantra of the Mutfwang’s administration
Dr Clement Selchum Chirman, Rector Plateau State Polytechnic stated this on Sunday, March,24th, 2024 when he appeared as the 4th Guest of POINTBLANK NEWS BLOG INTERACTIVE SESSION
Dr Chirman said “most of our courses are due for accreditation. When Governor Mutfwang learned about this, he provided, to our institution, funds for the accreditation exercise of most of the courses, particularly for the programs in engineering & sciences, in the first instances”.
The former National Image Maker of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics added that “before this interaction, I have received over 80 NBTE staff & resource persons from all over the federation for the accreditation exercise which will commence tomorrow in the polytechnic. This development explains that we are on the right path”
The governor’s commitment highlights the importance attached to education by this administration and it is capable of reversing the negative trend of students’ exodus from the Polytechnic. The scholar added that accreditation of courses started today, Monday, 25 March 2024 at the Polytechnic with NABTEB Staff fully on ground
Pointblank News Blog gathers that in 2019,the Polytechnic had a student enrolment of 7,000 – 8,000 but in 2023 the mass exodus of students and refusal to seek admission into the school due to incessant strikes, lack of accreditation of programs and unnecessary tedious admission process saw the students enrolment dropped drastically to between 3,000 – 3,5000. Students stayed away from the Polytechnic because of the uncertainty of graduation date which is not known.
Federal Polytechnic Bauchi in their last matriculation had over 11,000 students out of which over 8,000 were Plateau State citizens, a negative trend that the new management with the support of Gov Mutfwang is work assiduously hard to change. Deducing reason for the drop in students’ enrolment, Dr Chirman said “There were strikes at that time because the government did not do the needful. Staff were owed salaries between 4-6 months. Government at that time paid little attention to the system”.
However, with the advent of Governor’s Mutfwang’s administration and the coming on board of the Polytechnic new management headed by Dr Chirman, things have changed geometrically for the better. It is worthy to say the school is on the ascension again with the view to recovering its lost glory. “The good story however is that with the coming of of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, the sad story is being addressed. Workers are paid constantly in the state today, so there will be no reason for strikes, particularly in our institutions. Efforts are also being made by the government to address the security challenges”
Expatiating on his plans for the institution, the Chief Executive Officer of the State’s most largest institution mentioned that “and with the recent change in the leadership of the institution, we have embarked on strategic steps to revamp the institution. The infrastructure is being improved by the government & there is serenity of the environment to work and learn”
The former ASUP Chairman of the Polytechnic now Rector said the enrolment has risen to 6,000 students. “In the late admission exercise we just conducted, we witnessed a significant surge in students’ enrolment. We have a student population of about 6000 as at today and I can assure you that by September, this year, by the grace of God, we shall fully pick up & the polytechnic will, once again, be the destination for most candidates”. He attributed the positive turn around to His Excellency, Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang who placed premium importance on education.
Dr Chirman assured students, parents and stakeholders that by God’s grace, the school academic calendar will be followed strictly and students will graduate without adding a day because “as stated earlier those reasons (strike and insecurity) may not be necessary for a strike today as government is responding appropriately to the needs of the workers. Most reasons why workers go on strikes is failure of government to address issues of emoluments. This reason is not tenable for strikes today in our polytechnic”
The Rector who since assumption of office has made concerted efforts to returning the Polytechnic to its once enviable height particularly in running Postgraduates programs “We are already running post- graduate diploma programs in public administration, accounting & business administration, in conjunction with Nasarawa State University, Keffi”.
“Last two weeks I was in the institution to strengthen our bilateral relationship & we have agreed to mount more post- graduate programmes. We have also agreed to run top-up degree programmes for HND graduates that are interested through NSUK. With time we shall run, even Master Degree Courses because we have the facilities & resource persons. We only need the mandate & platform to hit the ground running”.
The Associate Professor who joined the Polytechnic since in 1999 and rose through the ranks to be Chief Lecturer making him vastly acquainted with the Polytechnic’s strengths, weaknesses and challenges said the Polytechnic will review the issue of satellites campuses with the view to increasing them. This is to enable more Plateau citizens who cannot afford to stay in the city have access to polytechnic education, an opportunity that is akin to the National Open University.
On the issue of school fee increment, the Rector insisted that “We have received complaints on issues of fees, but the truth is that Plateau State Polytechnic has one of the cheapest fees regime, compared to other state Polytechnics in Nigeria”. Though he noted that “the economic reality in Nigeria has made the running of the institutions very expensive if we are to keep our laboratories functional & to provide the necessary consumables and we understand the plight of students, parents and we also pray that the economy should improve generally”
Dispelling the rumour of sharp practice in the would-be recruitment exercise where it was rumoured that certain slots have been reserved for top government functionaries, Dr Chirman emphatically said “I am not aware of this arrangement, please, sir. Let us not work on rumours and domestic gossips, but facts”.
He stressed that “be rest assured of our resolve to pursue standard to ensure credibility. His Excellency instructed to ensure fairness, justice & credibility in the recruitment and we must adhere to this instruction. More so, if we want to revamp the polytechnic, we must recruit the best minds anywhere in the world”.
