Reformation team submits roadmap for Polytechnic education *Recommends 80% practical skills, 20% theoretical knowledge

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By Madu Obi

The Polytechnic Reformation Team, (PRT) set up by the federal government has submitted a roadmap for improving polytechnic education in the country.

Under the new policy, 80% would be based on practical skills and 20% would be based on theoretical knowledge.

Chairman of the committee, Engr.(Dr) Jide Soyemi and secretary, Nordiana Osagie, said the recommendation is in alignment with international best practices in education.

"The PRT submission is a bottom-up approach towards evolving a viable and sustainable solution to the policy from Lecturers, Instructors, Technologists and non-teaching staff in the polytechnic system in whose constituency and domain the pivot of the policy revolves and resides.

"This is a marked departure from the top-bottom approach through which policy decisions devolve to academic staff for implementation", they said.

According to them, the PRT platform is an assemblage of the best brains in the polytechnic sector, adding that the objective was to dissect, analyze and suggest on viable strategies to enhance effective policy implementation directed at revamping the polytechnic sub-sector in particular and the Nigerian economy in general.

The committee said that after exhaustive discussion on the new policy, the team, made up of eleven members from the six geopolitical zones of the country considered the five terms of reference.

The terms of reference are to:

*identify CORE disciplines run in Polytechnic in the country;

*identify those susceptible to application of the Federal Ministry of Education policy of 80% practical

skill & 20% theoretical knowledge.

The terms of reference further includes;

*identify disciplines ready for immediate implementation of the policy and others that require incubation prior to implementation;

*identify impediments hampering its realization in the past, immediate & in the future; and

* make recommendations, as well as proffer other solutions relevant to the success of the policy.