The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has said the creation of National Polytechnics Commission would address the lingering crisis within the Polytechnic sector.

ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja who advised the National Assembly against distractions in passing the Bill currently before it, alleged that the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Education were mulling the creation of Commission for Technical Education after defending the budgetary appropriations recently.

In a statement yesterday, Kpanja said there has been reports from different media outlets on the establishment of a Commission to regulate technical and vocational education in the country.

According to him, the Union view this alternative as a mere change of name without the desired impact on the regulation of Polytechnics in Nigeria.

He said: “This role is currently within the purview of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) established since 1977. Nigerian Polytechnics (and Monotechnics) represent the tertiary education institutions under the regulation of the NBTE.

“With the exponential growth in the number and profile of Polytechnics over the past 4 decades, as well as the explosion in the numbers of institutions under the regulatory regime of the NBTE, our Union has been making demands (and rightfully so) for the establishment of a separate Commission to regulate the tertiary education institutions found in the current mix of over 700 institutions under the NBTE.