'Review portion of Poly Act'

18-01-08
Page 30

THE Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board (NAB), Mr Kwame Dartey, has called for a review of the portion of the Polytechnic Act that says that polytechnics may award their own Higher National Diploma (HND).
According to him, the HND was a national certification that should be awarded by a body such as the National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations (NABPTEX).
In an interview with the Daily Graphic on the enactment of the Polytechnic Act, Mr Dartey agreed that NABPTEX should award the HND.
Section (5a) of the Polytechnic Act (Act 745, 2007) says that “a polytechnic may award HND accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB)”.
The NABPTEX, which regulates the conduct of polytechnic examinations in the country, currently awards the HND.
Sub-section 2 (2b) of the NABPTEX Act (Act 492, 1994) says that the board shall, “in consultation with the relevant polytechnics and professional institutions, conduct examinations and award national certificates and diplomas based on the result of the examinations”.
Mr Dartey said there would be a problem if each polytechnic was made to award its own HND, since not all the polytechnics in the country had the staff and facilities to run courses and award their own certificates.
As a result, he said, they would need an independent national body that would ensure that they had the same syllabi and wrote the same examinations supervised by a national body which would award the HND.
He said with respect to the award of degrees and other certification, the polytechnics should clear with the NAB before going ahead to issue them, adding that the board was responsible for the accreditation of both public and private institutions regarding the content and standard of their programmes.
Section 2 (1a) of the NAB Act (Act 744, 2007) says that the “board shall determine the programmes and requirements for the proper operation of an institution and the maintenance of acceptable levels of academic or professional standards in the institution in consultation with that institution”.
With the passage of the Polytechnic Act, it is unclear whether the polytechnics are going to award their own HNDs or NABPTEX will continue to award them.