House Passes Fed Polytechnics Act Amendment Bill for Second Reading

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, a bill for an Act to amend the Federal Polytechnics Act laws of 2004, to among other things, review the function of the polytechnics.

Leading the debate on the Bill at the plenary on Tuesday, the sponsor, Hon. Faud Laguda said the Bill seeks to amend the Principal Act to meet up with the demand of the ever changing world while adhering to the International best practices.

The bill, according to him, also seeks to review and enlarge the membership of the Council with the inclusion of representatives of technical institutional bodies like NBTE and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), enlarge the scope of functions of Federal Polytechnics in Nigeria with clearer and result oriented administrative structure.

Laguna noted that Clause 2 of the Bill is the amendment to Section 3 of the Principal Act to include representatives of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and MAN in the Council of every polytechnic in Nigeria.

He added that Clause 3 is the amendment to Section 8 which seeks to raise the bar in respect of the qualifications of those seeking to occupy the position of the Rector of federal polytechnics in Nigeria.

The lawmaker stressed that Clause 4 is an amendment to Section 15 of the principal act which seeks to enlarge the powers of the academic board to among others, award Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) Hons.