Samuel Omotere
Members of the National Association of Polytechnic Students have frowned against the Federal Government’s decision to scrap Pharmaceutical Technology from the list of Higher National Diploma programmes in Nigeria.
They faulted the agreement between the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria and the National Board of Technical Education, approved by the Federal Government through a memorandum of understanding to accredit and train only National Diploma Pharmacy Technicians.
NBTE and PCN signed the MOU on April 17, at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education in Kaduna, in a meeting chaired by the Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu, and other directors in the ministry, after they resolved the 22-year-old issue on pharmaceutical technologists training.
In a statement by the Coordinator of the National Association of Polytechnic Students, South West Zone, Monday Obasanya, on Wednesday, the association criticised this action.
He expressed concern over the future employment prospects of graduates of this course in the labour market, following its dis-accreditation by relevant bodies.
While calling for a reversal of this decision, he stated, “The dis-accreditation of the course has not only left thousands of students and graduates in a state of uncertainty but also raised questions about their employability and prospects. We are worried that the graduates of this course, who have invested significant time and resources in their education, may be denied opportunities in the labour market due to the perceived invalidation of their qualifications.
“We fear that this decision will lead to a waste of human resources, as many of these graduates may be forced to abandon their chosen career paths and seek alternative fields, leading to brain drain and loss of expertise in the healthcare sector. This is unacceptable and has far-reaching implications for the country’s development.
“We demand that the Federal Ministry of Education, NBTE, and PCN take immediate action to address the concerns of the affected students and graduates. We call for a reversal of the dis-accreditation decision and validation of the Pharmaceutical Technology course in polytechnics.”
Obasanya urged prospective employers of labour in the health sector not to undermine the qualifications of graduates from this field, and to provide available opportunities to them.
Speaking with our correspondent on the development, a student, Omolola Omon said she was disheartened over the news.
She said, “Segregation has been in existence for a long time, students who want to apply for direct entry are being turned down just because they studied pharmaceutical technology in polytechnic.
“My colleagues are bothered and confused about their fate after graduation. If the medical sector can’t accept them, what is now the essence of going for the programme?”
Sunday Oguntola, a recent graduate of Pharmaceutical Technology said he is displeased with the unjust dis-accreditation, describing it as an inconsiderate decision with no weighty reason.
“This is not just unfair but inhumane and we perceive the serious attempt of the government to truly take education out of the reach of the common masses. This issue has also brought concern to the current students on campus that have been offered that course and also students who are graduates of this discipline.
“We want to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to President Bola Tinubu to call to order his Minister of Education, not by any means to render our certificate useless else, we will take to the streets to speak to them in the only language they understand. We would not allow five years of our journey to be wasted,” Oguntola said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the NBTE, Fatima Abubakar, in a text, promised to get back to our correspondent but no response was gotten at the time of filing this report.
“Please bear with me, I want to get the information from the source. I will get back to you,” Abubakar pleaded.
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