Some staffers of the Kwara state Polytechnic, Ilorin are currently facing disciplinary actions for alleged certificate and receipt forgery, the institution Rector Jimoh M Abdul has said.
Dr Abdul, an engineer, who did not mention the number of staff involved, added that his administration had through that improved on its internally generated revenue (IGR).
He also said that his administration had succeeded in blocking some financial leakages in such areas as school fees collection, payment of certificates and wage bill, adding that N4 million was saved monthly from wage bills.
The rector spoke with reporters in Ilorin, the state capital on his one-year stewardship as the institution’s boss.
The poly rector said that his one year in office had witnessed various developments in the institution, adding that the school had also responded to societal challenges and improved its internally generated revenue (IGR).
He identified factors militating against contribution of polytechnic education to national development, suggesting more commitment from stakeholders.
The rector added that poor funding, inadequate monitoring of research projects, irregular staffing and poor commitment are among the identifiable factors.
Others according to him include unfavourable public perception of polytechnic education and inadequate reward system for lecturers assome other factors militating against polytechnic education in the country.
Dr Abdul said that “If there’s punishment for erring staff, why not reward for productive staff?
“As part of the challenges, there’s the issues of inadequate funding and lack of proper project monitoring in polytechnics. Also, there’s issue of staffing, where you have round pegs in square holes, coupled with poor staff commitment, as the case may be.
“We are working towards having reward for productive staff here starting next year and we plan to make it an elaborate event, because if there’s punishment for erring staff, there should be a reward system for hardworking and productive staff.
“Public perception of polytechnic education is another challenge militating against polytechnic education in the country. An average Nigerian will prefer to pay N250, 000 as university education fees per semester than N60, 000 for polytechnic education fees of same period.
“And this is not because what we do here is not good or our staff are inferior. Most of our staff have the highest education qualification in the world, which is doctorate degrees from reputable institutions, but the public perception of the polytechnic education is part of the problems. Calling you a professor is just by the way of practice. And until public perception of the lecturers and students is changed, by you and I, including operators of polytechnic education, the situation will continue.”
