By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has strongly condemned the alleged plans by the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, to outsource its quality assurance responsibilities, describing it as an attempt to commercialize the regulation of polytechnics in Nigeria.

ASUP in a statement at the weekend issued by its President, Comrade Shammah Kpanja, expressed its rejection of the policy, which it argued, undermined the credibility and integrity of the accreditation process for technical and vocational education institutions.

The policy, which reportedly has the approval of the Minister of Education, seeks to transfer NBTE’s accreditation and quality assurance responsibilities to private vendors.

The NBTE cited inadequate personnel as justification for the move, noting that it currently regulates 789 institutions across the country.

However, ASUP insisted that outsourcing such a critical function to private firms would create conflicts of interest, compromise standards, and jeopardize the confidentiality of sensitive institutional data.

Kpanja explained that at the core of NBTE’s mandate is the quality assurance bouquet comprising principally of accreditation and reaccreditation of programs of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

“This responsibility is currently the target of this outsourcing policy,” he said.

“This strange policy brings to question the continued relevance of the NBTE as a public institution,” he added.

He warned that the union would work with key stakeholders to resist the move, adding that allowing private consultants, who are profit-driven entities, to handle accreditation would weaken regulatory oversight and increase financial burdens on institutions already struggling with inadequate funding.




https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/03/asup-vows-to-resist-nbtes-move-to-outsource-polytechnic-accreditation-process/