This study seeks to examine how polytechnic education in Nigeria can develop middle level skilled manpower to enhance sustainable development. Education as an effective, dynamic instrument for moulding and harnessing the human person its capabilities, and also for structuring a better society, has been recognized the world over. Therefore, the study aims to support and encourage the activities of Nigerian polytechnics in training middle level skilled manpower for sustainable development. The study was a qualitative study, content analysis was adopted to analyze the various data gathered from the secondary source of data collection. The findings of the study revealed the challenges of the polytechnic education, which include among others, constraints imposed by the statute establishing polytechnics in Nigeria; efforts so far made in manpower generation and solution to the challenges established above. As parts of the solution to the challenges, the study recommended inter alia promotion of aggressive research development, as well as entrepreneurship activities, through intra and inter-institutional competitions and irresistible awards. This paper was unexhaustive contribution of original information from the secondary sources on this topic. It is unique, original and valuable research for academic and societal improvement. Future study on this issue should focus on required skills in the industries which polytechnics should develop. Empirical analysis on middle level manpower development by the Nigerian polytechnics can reveal skills training areas. The study was opinion research paper  

1. MIDDLE LEVEL SKILLED MANPOWER
DEVELOPMENT AS A HIGHER
EDUCATION POLICY FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: NIGERIA
POLYTECHNIC PERSPECTIVE
Nwaneri Chioma J.
And
Obiah Mmadubuike Emmanuel .U.

2. KEYWORDS – EDUCATION, POLYTECHNIC, MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
 ABSTRACT
 This study seeks to examine how polytechnic education in Nigeria can develop middle level skilled
manpower to enhance sustainable development. Education as an effective, dynamic instrument for
moulding and harnessing the human person its capabilities, and also for structuring a better society,
has been recognized the world over. Therefore, the study aims to support and encourage the activities
of Nigerian polytechnics in training middle level skilled manpower for sustainable development. The
study was a qualitative study, content analysis was adopted to analyze the various data gathered from
the secondary source of data collection. The findings of the study revealed the challenges of the
polytechnic education, which include among others, constraints imposed by the statute establishing
polytechnics in Nigeria; efforts so far made in manpower generation and solution to the challenges
established above. As parts of the solution to the challenges, the study recommended inter alia
promotion of aggressive research development, as well as entrepreneurship activities, through intra
and inter-institutional competitions and irresistible awards. This paper was unexhaustive contribution
of original information from the secondary sources on this topic. It is unique, original and valuable
research for academic and societal improvement. Future study on this issue should focus on required
skills in the industries which polytechnics should develop. Empirical analysis on middle level
manpower development by the Nigerian polytechnics can reveal skills training areas. The study was
opinion research paper


3.  BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Many scientific and technological institutions have been drafted to industrial revolution. Otokunefor (2014) in Obasi
(2015) traces the origin of polytechnics to the Industrial Revolution. He explains: As the Europeans began their exploratory
trips around the world in search of raw materials, it became obvious that factories would be needed to process the raw
materials they were bringing in. The factories would need machines and men to turn these raw materials into finished
products; these needs gave birth to the polytechnic. Oforibika, Ezekiel & Uzor (2015) observed that polytechnics became
popular after World War II with the expansion of technical education, associated with the need created by industrialization.
They are established all over the world with the sole aim of giving adequate training to students in both purely academic
professional and vocational courses, which centre around agricultural development, engineering, architecture and
environmental studies, management sciences, etc.
Meanwhile, the history of polytechnics in Nigeria, began with the establishment by the Federal Government, of Yaba
College of Technology in 1948, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) and Kaduna Polytechnic in 1958. By 2012,
there were about 125 polytechnics in the country; with the increasing quest and approvals for the establishment of private
polytechnics, the number may certainly have gone up added to this number is Innovations and Entrepreneurial Institutes, etc.
Following the establishment of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) by Act No. 9 of 11th January, 1977, the
Federal Polytechnic Statute enacted as Decree No. 33 of 1979 and amended by Decree No.5 of 1993 gave legal framework
for the establishment of federal polytechnics in Nigeria. The NBTE a regulatory body, thus, became the principal origin of
the Federal Ministry of Education specifically created to handle all aspects of technical and vocational education falling
outside university education in Nigeria (Gilbert & Nnanna, 2015).
Thus the principal aim for the establishment of polytechnics in Nigeria is to turnout middle-level manpower needed for
industrial and technological development of the country; as no meaningful national development could be achieved by any
national without sound and qualitative technical education (Madukairo, 2011 in Oforibika et al, 2015). Beside polytechnics
are higher educational institutions that squarely focus on research exercises with greater emphasis on
vocational/entrepreneurial skill and technology education and also ward of the National Diploma (ND). After this, students
are expected to go for one year industrial attachment to enable them acquire requisite on the job and practical experience
before proceeding to the Higher National Diploma (HND) (Oforibika et al, 2015).

4. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Higher education is basic to the future of Nigerian life. The nation’s ability to prosper and to thrive in an increasingly
knowledge-based global society and economy depends on our having a progressively well-educated middle-level
manpower population. It is on this premise that this paper focus on middle-level manpower development focusing
primarily on polytechnics.
Conceptual Framework
Education have been seen in terms of knowledge qualities, skills, attitudes and capacities that enable individuals to
become conscious subjects of their growth and active responsible participants in a systematic process of building a new world
order. It is the key that unlocks all the forces of economic growth and development in nation. Education is a magic key that
unlocks solutions to all human and societal problems. However (Igwe, 2015) regarded education as the greatest, mass
rewarding and enduring investment in human capital, desirable catalyst for technological revolution, a means of acquiring
experience knowledge and skills aimed at eliminating shackles of ignorance thereby enhancing one’s development as well as
of one’s community. Polytechnic education is part of that tertiary education established with the primary objective of training
middle-level technical manpower for sustainable development of a nation. According to (Achilike, 2015) polytechnic
education is deemed as that which offers opportunity for “hands on experience” within dynamic and progressive learning
setting; with strong emphasis on practice based learning as against the philosophical base of the university.
In other words, Polytechnic Education leads in tackling this problem through her enabling environment with the inherent
practicalities for every programme geared towards business opportunities. A reflection shows that one strategy after the other
has been considered in the past but to our mind, this quest for national development is encapsulated in polytechnic education
that leads to acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge.

5. Manpower refers to the skills, training, experience, education, knowledge, know-how, and competencies contributed by humans to a business. In
other words, it can be referred to as the value that is added onto a company by an employee, which can be measured by the employee’s skills and
competencies. It is an important factor of production, employing individuals with the right education, experience, skills and training can improve
efficiency, productive, and profitability. Manpower development implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creatively, self-discipline,
reasonability and material well-being, which will enhance social, economic and political development. Human development can only be sustained when
people, individually and collectively, are exposed to new and greater opportunities that result in human potential realization.
Nevertheless, middle-level manpower development represents a set of activities that provide learning opportunities through which people acquire
and improve job-related skills for the purpose of improving current job performance. These challenge rests squarely on polytechnic education towards
middle-level manpower development, which involves industrial practice, creativity, quality education, innovativeness and self-reliant through
practicality in her programmes.
Brundtland commission produced in 1984 what is now one of the most widely recognized definitions of sustainable development. The document
defined sustainable development “as a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.” Irrespective of the nation’s political ideology and economic vision, the purpose of sustainable development is to bring about a
qualitative improvement in the standard of living of the citizens by promoting industrialization, agricultural development, the construction of transport
facilities, the provision of key utilities to the entire citizens, of basic social and welfare services so as to stimulate entrepreneurship, create employment
and eradicate poverty (Obiah et al, 2016).
Middle-level skilled manpower development is geared towards enhancement of self-reliance, self-confidence, eradication of poverty, income
generation, creating employment opportunities for our teeming youths and large army of unemployed graduates. The potentials of polytechnic education
if optimized, no doubt, will bring about sustainable development, particularly, at this time education subsector is meant to produce job creators and not
job seekers. That Nigeria is still crawling in the world of industrial technology in this 21st century is a matter of great concern for the development of her
middle-level skilled manpower.
The polytechnic is saddled with the responsibility of providing middle-level skilled manpower needs in the Nigerian economy. Manpower can be
built based on the combination of science and technology. Polytechnic education is targeted at Producing people with specific skill manpower to manage
the production/maintaining industries.

6. EMPIRICAL/CURRENT LITERATURE REVIEW
There are five main types of tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria namely: universities, polytechnics, monotechnics,
innovative and college of education, which are charged with the responsibilities of producing middle-level and high level manpower
personnel and also carrying out researches to address the problems of the communities and the nation at large (Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 2004). Middle-level manpower development has been the bane of these tertiary institutions. Among these four tertiary
institutions, the polytechnics remain the core for the development of manpower for national development. Polytechnic education is
that aspect of the tertiary education subsector designed and set up to produce practically-oriented middle-level skilled manpower in
various disciplines capable of self-employment and needed to channel the physical, social, technological, economic and political
problems of the society for sustainable national development. It involves work attachment with industries “(Industrial Training IT)”/
“Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)” programmes as part of the curriculum. For (Gilbert & Nnanna, 2015) the
polytechnics and colleges of technology are essentially for the production of middle level technical manpower needed for industrial
and technological development of the country. Two types of certificates are awarded at this level namely: the National Diploma
(ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND).
One of the distinguishing features of polytechnic education is the strong emphasis on practice based learning, they identified
and added that graduates of Nigeria polytechnics are expected to be characterized by the practical technical expertise required for
the transformation of our socio-economic cum technological sectors.
No doubt, the prominence of polytechnic education in practical knowledge is one of the reasons they are hot cakes in the labour
market. Companies prefer, over the years the services of polytechnic graduates. This reason is ties to, not only their skill, but also of
their practical training that gears towards actualization and practicality, which is instrumental to any nation’s economic and
technological development. Little wonder then (Obasi, 2015) reflected and acknowledge with (Ajibiye & Osasona, 2014) on the
consensus that “commercial industries that drive the economy of every nation have been benefitting from the ‘products’ of
polytechnic institutions. Manufacturing, productions, art design and printing, engineering, information and communication
technology, applied sciences and humanities are formidable pillars that uphold industrialization in the 21st century.”

7. AIMS AND FUNCTIONS OF POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION
The Federal Polytechnic Act (1979) enunciates the mandate and functions of polytechnics, which include:
1. To provide full-time and part-time courses of instruction and training:
i. In technology, applied science, commerce and management; and
ii. In such other fields of applied learning relevant to the needs of the development of Nigeria in the areas of industrial and
agricultural production and distribution, and of research and to the development and adaptation of techniques as may be dictated
by national needs and circumstances.
2. To arrange conferences, seminars and study groups relative to their areas of mandate. By their mandate, programmes and curricula,
therefore, the polytechnics are established to produce middle and high level manpower embracing scientists, engineers and
technologists.
3. To perform such functions as in the opinion of the council may serve to promote the objectives of the polytechnic. Conscious of the
objectives for which the polytechnic was established, it adopted the Motto: “Knowledge and Skill for Service”, right from its inception
in 1978. It has vigorously pursued its objectives.
In addition to this, according to the National Policy of Education, some of the goals of Polytechnic Education include the following:
1. Provide full-time or part-time courses of instruction and training in engineering other technologies, applied science and management
leading to the production of trained manpower.
2. Provide the technological knowledge and skills necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic development of
Nigeria.
3. Give training and impart the necessary skills for the production of technicians, technologists and other skilled personnel who shall be
enterprising and self-reliant.
4. Train people who can apply scientific knowledge to solve environmental problems for the convenience of man.
5. Give exposure on professional studies in the technologies.

8. CHALLENGES OF THE POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION
The polytechnic system in Nigeria is facing great deal of challenges, ranging from statutory through social and economic to political. These according to
(Obasi, 2015) are:
1. Statutory Constraints - The statute which established the system has been static, while the system itself has been dynamic. The statute established
polytechnics as a two-tier institutional closed system, with no opportunity beyond HND in the system, a situation that compels practically-oriented
graduates of a practical system, who desire further studies, to cross over to a theoretical system (university). Similarly, low-level academic staff (i.e.
technologists), who desire higher education, have no opportunity of doing so in the system. They are also compelled to seek their desire in the
university.
2. Socio-economic Constraint/Discrimination - Since the colonial era, there has been a lingering conception of technical education as inferior to the
theoretical one and meant for dullards and school “drop-outs”. This low or negative image of technical education in the minds of people rubs off on
the polytechnic system, thereby discouraging potential candidates who, consequently, opt for university education. This explains the high rush for
universities at the expense of polytechnics and colleges of education.
3. Discrepancy between university and polytechnic - our university degrees are superior in rank and practice.
4. Poor funding – there are three tiers of tertiary institutions in the country and development plans focus more on only on (university),
while the others (monotechnics and polytechnics) suffer abject abandonment.
5. Non-creation by government of a separate regulatory body equivalent to the National Universities Commission (NUC) for universities
and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) for colleges of education.
6. Differential placement and treatment of polytechnic and university graduates in disfavor of the former.
7. Relatively shorter progression ladder for polytechnic graduates who, in terms of salary levels, terminate at a point below that of university
graduates.
8. Inadequate and obsolete workshop and laboratory equipment and other teaching aids.
9. Decrepit and inadequate infrastructural facilities, classrooms, hostels, libraries, etc.
10. Low research and development activities attributable to low research capacity on the part of the academic staff and weak institution-
industry relationship.
17. Low ICT and entrepreneurship education content/high computer illiteracy on the part of the staff.

9. SOLUTION TO POLYTECHNIC EDUCATION
According to (Obasi, 2015) the nation cannot and should not expect much from the polytechnics without giving adequate consideration to
the following measures which have become imperative:
1. Review of the decree or acts establishing the polytechnic, with a view to eliminating the structural and other constraints
inherent in the statute, and providing unrestrained career path for graduates of the system. The career path in technology should provide
students of the system the opportunity of progressing not necessarily through B.Sc, M.Sc, etc, but through B. Tech, M. Tech, and D.
Tech.
2. Recognizing that polytechnic education is not necessarily inferior to university education, as it offers a definite career direction
which, unlike the latter, places emphasis on practice rather than theory, and, ipso facto, legislating against all forms of discrimination
and prejudice against this form of education, the students and graduates and its staff and products.
3. Establishment of a separate regulatory (National Commission for Polytechnics) as a way of recognizing the importance of the
polytechnic system as a component of tertiary education in Nigeria and giving it the much attention it deserves.
4. Adequate funding accompanied by scrupulous monitoring to ensure judicious use of allocated fund.
5. Total infrastructural rehabilitation or renovation, and provision of new and modern infrastructures that support scientific and
technological enterprises.
6. Periodic curriculum review to ensure increased ICT, entrepreneurship and local contents to align their programmes and courses with
the changing demands of the society and the global labour market.
7. Forging of strong polytechnic-industry as well as inter-institutional linkages to promote exchanges and adoption of best
practices.
8. Institutionalization of an effective and comparable incentive system and improved conditions of service to motivate staff of the
system.

10. To summarize, the primary objective of the system is to make education more practical and applications through skills
training to ensure sustainable development. The transformation of raw human resource into highly productive human resource
with these inputs is the process of manpower formation, which the polytechnic takes the pride of forming the middle-level
manpower. The significance of the concept of manpower in generating long-term economic development of the nation cannot be
neglected. It is expected that the macroeconomic policies of all the nations are focused towards promotion of human
development and subsequently sustainable economic development.
Accordingly, our people have to jettison all superstition, timidity and self-defeat and embrace requisite self-confidence,
tenacity of purpose and keen focus in order to lift the country up from the jungle of incompetence, self-doubt and ineffectual
mismanagement into which it had depressed. The need for a re-standardization of our national priorities and emplacement of
round pegs in round holes is self-evident if Nigeria is to occupy its rightful place among the nations of the world and be
opportune to discharge its historical duty to Africa and the black world.
CONCLUDING REMARK
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Against the backdrop of the above analysis, the study recommend the following policy measures:
 Promotion of aggressive research development, as well as entrepreneurship activities, through intra and inter-
institutional competitions and irresistible awards.
 Identifying specific areas of strength of the polytechnics, and throwing definite challenges to them in such
areas through additional and dedicated funds.
 Provision of adequate and modern/digitalized instruments and equipment to make the polytechnics more
practically effective and productive and to facilitate or accelerate the modernization of teaching and learning in
them as well as their institutionalization.
 Adequate and appropriate staffing coupled with regular training and retraining of the staff in modern skills and
technologies to enable them face the challenges of new trends in the industry and society.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS