The House of Representatives Committee on Polytechnics and other Higher Technical Education on Tuesday challenged rectors of Federal Polytechnics to be innovative by introducing courses and programmes that will help utilise all potentials in their catchment areas.
The committee gave the charge at an oversight session with rectors and some management staff of Federal Polytechnic Kauran-Namoda, Zamfara State; Federal Polytechnic Bauchi; Federal Polytechnic Kaltungo, Gombe State and Federal Polytechnic Bali, Taraba State in Abuja.
Speaking after a submission by the Rector, the Federal Polytechnic Kauran-Namoda Zamfara State, Jonathan Murdi, Chairman of the Committee, Fraud Laguda said, as an institution in the state, it should introduce courses in geology, mining and other related courses in order to help educate youths and help in rescuing them from becoming bandits or their agents.
He said, “Like we discussed earlier, we were talking about why don’t you have courses in mining in your place.
“Because if you have courses in mining, some of these gold and things that they find in the soil there, they’ll be coming to do the test in your school, which is also a source of IGR for you.
“So things shouldn’t be right under your nose and you skip it like it’s impossible. It is the happenings of today that you would apply. And that is part of what they call innovation. So please look into this”.
He noted that, bringing such courses would address the decline students population as a result of insecurity in Zamfara State.
“We’ll be glad to hear that our students are not reducing, they’ve started increasing.And all this can be done by the standard that you keep, or that you give to the students.
“If we are producing A-list students, and by the time we start working with places and they are giving good results, you will be surprised the multiplier effect that that will bring to you.
“Because the employers will always tell, look up, in my factory room, there’s somebody that finished from Zamfara Poly that I collected and he has done wonderfully well.
“I’ve collected them in two years and they’ve been doing too well. Students will hear of this, parents will hear of this, and they’ll send their children to your school”.
In his presentation, the Rector, Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, Dr Sani Usman informed the Committee that, the institution established in 1976 has 2,112 academic and non-academic staff, Six Schools and running 36 academic programmes with 11,000 students.
In his presentation, the Rector, Federal Polytechnic Kaltungo, Gombe State, Dr Sulaiman Lame informed that, the institution was established in 2019 and recruitment for key staff was done in 2020.
He further informed that, have 500 academic/non academic staff in 2021 with 65% academic Staff and 35% non-academic staff.
Dr Lame said they have four schools, which include; Schools of Engineering, Science, School of Management Studies and School of General Studies running Eleven programs with 300 students.
