SSANIP rejects NBTE’s revised schemes of service, citing career progression disparities for non-teaching staff in Nigerian polytechnics

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) has rejected the reviewed schemes of service prepared by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

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The union’s National President, Philip Ogunsipe, said the rejection was documented in a minority report submitted to the Minister of Education, Dr Moruf Alausa.

SSANIP argued that the revised scheme introduced sharp disparities between teaching and non-teaching staff at entry points, effectively denying non-teaching staff career progression.

Staff with first degrees, the union said, would be blocked from advancing to CONTEDISS 15, equivalent to Grade Level 17.

Ogunsipe added that documentary evidence from the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, confirming the CONTEDISS 15 salary structure, was ignored at the stakeholders’ meeting.

The union criticised remarks reportedly made by the Chairman of the Committee of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology, which suggested that rectors and some non-teaching staff could not retire on the same grade levels.

Ogunsipe described the statement as demeaning, elitist, discriminatory, and contradictory to public service rules.

With the minority report, SSANIP has expressed a vote of no confidence in NBTE’s ability to provide a fair and balanced scheme of service.

The association appealed to the Minister of Education to review the protest objectively to ensure equity, industrial harmony, and adherence to public service norms.

The union also rejected the decision to remove the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation from the preparation and approval of schemes of service, describing it as counterproductive.

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SSANIP stressed that considering its position would ensure polytechnic staff enjoy benefits comparable to those in universities and colleges of education across Nigeria.