Polytechnic lecturers with first degree or HND are in trouble as their days of handling the chalk are numbered.
It is official and a strong message from the National Board for Technical Education.
In a memo dated 10th September, 2025, NBTE said any lecturer in the said category after spending five years without getting a Master’s degree should be converted to non academic staff.
The memo is signed by Prof Idris M Bugaje, executive secretary of NBTE.
The memo directed all polytechnics to comply, warning that severe sanctions should be meted to erring institutions.
The board also said that the memo takes immediate effect.
Part of the memo reads thus : ‘I am directed to inform you that the board has approved a moratorium of five years from the date of the staff employment to acquire a Master’s degree. Consequently , any academic staff who failed to acquire a Master’s degree after five years of employment shall be converted from academic staff to non teaching staff ‘.