Date: 2017-06-07

The Rector of Kwara State Polytechnic, Alhaji Mas'ud Elelu, says that the National Board for Technical Education has approved all the 29 courses the polytechnic submitted to it for accreditation.

Elelu disclosed this on Tuesday in Ilorin while responding to questions from journalists at the 2017 Ramadan Iftar.

He said that the institution's management would ensure that it sustained the standards of the accredited courses and introduce new ones. He said: "You all will agree with me that accreditation of courses is the key to running of courses in tertiary institutions.

"The National Board for Technical Education recently approved all the 29 courses presented to it for accreditation early in the year."

Elelu said the polytechnic was currently running 60 science-based courses; comprising 55 stale, and five new ones. The rector said that two out of the five new courses presented for accreditation were fully accredited by NBTE.

Elelu listed them as: National Diploma in Transportation Planning and Management as well as Welding and Fabrication Engineering. He stated: "As part of the general academic restructuring, we wish to introduce more courses on both campuses of the polytechnic for our teeming youths to apply for. "These will reshape their thinking from management courses to science and technology courses."

The rector listed the accredited courses to include: National Diploma in Mineral Resources and Petroleum Engineering Technology, Quantity Surveying, Metallurgy, Architectural Technology, Building Technology, Leisure and Tourism Management.

Others are: Accountancy, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Office Technology Management, Estate Management, Urban and Regional Planning, Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technology and Statistics.

He said NBTE had also approved Higher National Diploma programmes in Accountancy, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Marketing, Office Technology Management and Building Technology for the polytechnic.

The board also gave its approval to the polytechnic to run HND in: Survey and Geo-informatics, Science Laboratory Technology, Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering Technology, Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technology and Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Elelu told the journalists that the polytechnic would soon commence e-learning whereby applicants would secure admission to the polytechnic and receive lectures online anywhere in the world.

He said this would improve the status of the polytechnic, market it to the whole world and earn foreign exchange for the state government. The rector said the institution had been granted the right to host the Nigerian Polytechnic Games, come 2018.

Elelu also said that he was in April appointed the Vice- Chairman of Commonwealth Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa in South Africa. He appealed to journalists to continue to support the polytechnic in their reportage, most especially, during the forthcoming NIPOGA.