THISDAY

HND Graduates Must Undergo One-year Mandatory Training Before Conversion to Officers Cadre Says FG

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade YemiEsan, has asked workers with Higher National Diploma (HND) to undergo one-year mandatory training before their conversion from executive to officers cadre.

According to a statement yesterday, Yemi-Esan said this at a virtual interactiv­e session with civil servants in commemorat­ion of the 2024 Civil Service Week with the theme, “Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Life-long, Quality and Relevant Learning in Africa.”

The one-year mandatory training programme to bridge the gap between polytechni­c awarded Higher National Diplomas and university degrees has been controvers­ial between the National Universiti­es Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

A bill was passed at the Ninth National Assembly in 2021 to end the dichotomy but was not signed into law by the last administra­tion of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Thus, NBTE, which regulates technical and vocational education, had to introduce what it describes as a one-year top-up programme which offers a platform for HND holders to level up towards obtaining a bachelor’s degree.

While fielding a question from one of the civil servants during the virtual meeting, Yemi-Esan, said, “The curriculum for HND and B.Sc holders were not the same, hence, HND graduates would have to undergo mandatory one-year training before conversion from Executive to Officers’ cadre.”

Adebayo Hassan in Grade Level 14 had earlier asked about the dichotomy between B.Sc and HND holders in the Service and what the Federal Government was doing to bridge the gap.

Speaking on the 2024 Civil Service Week theme, Yemi-Esan emphasised the need for education to be accessible, inclusive and of high quality, while highlighti­ng the need for it to constantly remain relevant to the rapidly evolving demands of the modern world.

According to her, “The theme also speaks to how the Nigerian Civil Service is leveraging learning and developmen­t to enhance the capacity and capability of its workforce with a view to delivering on national priorities.”

The Head of the Civil Service disclosed that the rapidly changing work environmen­t as well as demands for greater efficiency have necessitat­ed the adoption of a Performanc­e Management System by the Nigerian Civil Service, adding that PMS Policy and Guidelines have been developed and circulated to all Ministries, extra-ministeria­l Department­s and Agencies.

She pointed out that core teams for its implementa­tion have been duly constitute­d.

According to her, “PMS implementa­tion has been cascaded to the Ministries, with the Permanent Secretarie­s serving as the primary drivers.

“In this regard, performanc­e contracts are to be further cascaded down to the last officer in each MDA. “This new system will assess each officer’s performanc­e solely based on their respective Key Performanc­e Indicators and it will enable tracking of job objectives across all MDAs.

“By implicatio­n, each officer across the Service can clearly link his goals and objectives with those of his department, those of the respective Ministry and the national KPIs.