The decision was reached at the Federal Executive Council,FEC, yesterday. The award of HND will be limited to only the students currently admitted for the programmes.

Also, all the programmes currently being run by polytechnics,which are not technology-based, and which are about 70 percent, will be scrapped.

Under the new rule, the polytechnics will now become campuses of the closest universities with the Vice Chancellors of those universities appointing provosts for the polytechnics,subject to the consent of the Universities Councils.

The polytechnics will now be limited to award of the National Diploma (ND) while those desirous of further education will be awarded the Bachelor of Technology(B.Tech) by the proximate university.

To kick-start the new policy, the nation’s two most prominent polytechnics – Yaba College of Technology and Kaduna Polytechnic– will hence forth be known as City University of Technology, Yaba and City University of Technology, Kaduna.

And to legalise these approvals,the FEC approved the submission of two Executive bills to the National Assembly for enactment.