The cardinal objective of the present administration hinged on “Free Education” and the branding of Owelle Rochas Okorocha as “the commander of Free Education” may have brought negative consequences to the education sector in Imo state
At the moment, the state-owned Polytechnic, named Imo State Polytechnic, in Umuagwo-Ohaji, is in limbo over the inability of the institution to send its graduating students to the mandatory one-year youth service scheme of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Trouble started for the institution when in September last year, all prospective graduating students of the institution sent to NYSC were disgraced and sent out of the orientation camps across the country, over alleged complicity in their statements of results.
Trumpeta learnt that Imo Poly graduates sent to NYSC for 2013 service year were flushed out of the camp for parading and submitting to NYSC officials Statements of Results that were not in tandem to their course of study while in school. The fraudulent exposure alarmed NYSC officials who have taken disciplinary measures against the institution.
For using fictition and deceitful approach to ensure mobilization of their graduates, NYSC sanctioned Imopoly till 2015. Trumpeta gathered that efforts by the school to re-forward names of the displaced graduates to NYSC for re-mobilization proved abortive when NYCS rejected it and asked the school management to wait till 2015 before consideration.
A confirmation of the ban was further revealed by the Rector, Rev Fr Wence Madu during an interactive session with management and staff of the institution. The Rector who begged both ASUU and NASU of the institution to ignore the national industrial strike and resume work, said that they will return to NYSC for an appeal against the ban urging the workers to be optimistic that the sanction will be erased soon.
Imo Poly risked NYSC ban when graduates of the school from unaccredited departments where mobilized for 2013 NYSC program using statements of results of few accredited courses to cover for unaccredited departments. Trumpeta gathered that the institution witnessed a downward trend since the present government took over power when some courses lost the National Board of Technical Educational (NBTE) accreditation. The lost of accreditation barred the school from sending prospective graduates for NYSC mobilization until recently when the management tried a funny trick that became disastrous and self-destructive to the image of the school and integrity of the free education in the state.
While prominent departments can no longer offer HND courses in some departments, as a result of de-accreditation, the hope of graduating and HND students of other disciplines are hanging in the balance as their academic inclination cannot be ascertained at the time of the report.
Efforts to reach the management was not possible as top authorities were not forthcoming with reactions.
