Rector of Auchi Polytechnic, Dr. Salisu Umar has called on the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to embark on technical vocational education in the country as the present system of equations can no longer guarantee white collar jobs.

Dr. Umar made this appeal, while speaking with journalists as part of his one year in office to appraise his achievements and challenges within the period under review.

He said: “The fact remains we have got it wrong right from the beginning to have been using this system of equations that only guarantees white collar jobs.” He added: “ As a developing nation, we don’t need the system any longer.”

He said:” the system of education can no longer take us anywhere as we are only going to be producing graduates that will later become a problem to the country in the nearest future if urgent steps are not taken towards technical vocational education, where every graduate can be self-employed

“Every year, Nigeria universities produce over 100,000 graduates and in a few years to come, I have not seen where government would be able to provide jobs for them and most of the jobs that are hardly available are paramilitary, and for us to move is to rethink of our educational systems”.

He asserted that his mission and vision is to make the polytechnic a world class institution and that he has already secured additional 17 new programmes with carrying capacity, while programmes of the polytechnic that have not be accredited in the past three years have been accredited under his administration.

He said the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) over one year have really suffered a great blow as a result of the debt he met on ground which was over N1.3 billion adding that he has been able to settle over 90 per cent of the debt.

“When I came on board, I met over N1.3 billion debt. I can authoritatively tell you we have settled over 90 per cent of it. That does not stop us from doing little things and if not because of the Federal Government not allow direct employment, I would have assured that we would have done more more than this. If I look at what I spent on paying part time lecturers, it is enough for the development of the institution. I have over 700 part time lecturers and staff in this school and we pay them over N24 million monthly. That does not include the electricity which we also pay from IGR”

Dr Umar however commended his predecessor, late Sunny Jimah for his boldness to stamp out cultism in the student body.

“I used to tell people that no matter how people feel about the late Sunny Jimah’s administration, we must commend him in these areas. He has done marvelously well.

The rector further stated that despite the challenges, he has been able to record some appreciable projects within one year and these to include: completion of two theaters halls at Campus-Three, a staff office in the School of Agricultural Science, staff-office in Campus-Two, rectification of water within the campuses, among others.

He added that in tenure, over 300 staff have been trained and certified in skill acquisition programmes and they can also train other staff and teach students, as no student will graduate without acquiring a skill that would be of benefit in the future.

On the relationship with the host community, he said he has integrated with the people, having lived there for over 29 years, since his NYSC days.