WHICH IS BETTER, POLYTECHNICS, COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES DIPLOMAS/PART TIME/PRE-DEGREE?

Every year hundreds of thousands of students – if not million – fail universities admission. Because of this high demand for education, government has endorsed some non-degree awarding institutions. If you attend a university, you will be given your 1st degree probably a BSc. With first degree you can go for NYSC, then apply for job and earn cool money. That is why there is pressure on university admission. Many students who can not make it through universities have opted for non-degree awarding institutions. However, majority of them just apply to this institution without proper orientation. That is they don’t know what is in it for them. Let us consider these institutions and the opportunities they offer.
POLYTECHNICS: Today we have both federal and state polytechnics. JAMB is the body responsible for conducting admission into polytechnics formerly through MPCE. But now, admission is possible through JAMB UTME. Polytechnics award two certificates – OND and HND.

OND means Ordinary National Diploma. This certificate serves two main purposes:
• One can use it to work even in many multinational companies. However, their salary is not usually high except for those working in Banks or oil firm.
• The certificate can also be used for admission into 200 level in degree awarding institutions. One can use it to apply for HND in polytechnics.
Among all other non-degree certificate, it is the best apart from HND.

HND – Higher National Diploma. Application is through polytechnics OND certificate. HND too serve too main purpose. As the name implies, it is a national certificate just like OND. This certificate serves two main purposes:
• One can use it to work even in many multinational companies. Their salary is fairly high. Some people even argue that it is an equivalent of first degree.

• The certificate can also be used for admission into 200 level in degree awarding institutions. Some universities will accept HND into 300 level for some courses. Another remarkable advantage of HND is that graduate can go for NYSC.
So, if you are considering non-degree awarding institutions, polytechnics should likely be your first stop. Take note though, that some polytechnics are very competitive i.e. YABATECH.

COLLEGES OF EDUCATION: As the name suggest, these institutions are usually meant for those who want to go into teaching line. Colleges of Education usually award NCE (National Certificate of Education). As the name suggest, it is a national certificate that will be recognize in any part of the country. NCE serves two main purposes:
• One can use it to apply for teaching job especially in Secondary schools..
• The certificate can be used for admission into 200 level in degree awarding institutions. Most universities favored that you apply to their faculty of Education
Interestingly, some colleges of Education have been changed to University of Education which means they can award degree to their students. I think they are placed in higher advantage. So, if you don’t despise teaching line or if you like teaching Colleges of Education is your best bet.

UNIVERSITIES DIPLOMA: Some universities run Diploma program and award OND certificate. This OND certificate can be used to apply for admission into 200 level although the person will need to write post direct entry exam. The certificate can also be used to work. However, some companies especially Banks prefer OND from polytechnics to Universities OND. The cost of running this program is usually high. So you should be ready to pay through your nose. Personally, I don’t encourage people to go for Diploma program in Universities. I consider it a waste of time. Rather I encourage students to go to polytechnics for OND. In the case of University Diploma, you can only apply to the University and some few others. In most cases, post direct entry exam is a difficult hurdle to cross. But you can use your polytechnics OND to apply for HND as well as degree direct entry. It is not monotonous.

If you talk about job opportunity, the chances are narrow still. Most of the industries that pay well enough for OND will prefer polytechnics OND ahead of University OND. So, the chances are narrow. However, if you like the prestige of attending a well established university and you have age on your side, you may still consider university Diploma. But for other purpose it is not worth the money and the time.

PRE-DEGREE – Pre-degree programs are local programs. In most cases you do one year course and at the end write an entrance exam into their 100 level. The cost is usually high and the risk is great. If you fail the entrance exam it means you have wasted that year since you can not apply for the entrance exam the next year. Worse still you can not use the result to apply to another school neither can user it to work. Most students go for pre-degree especially when they are frustrated or when they are keen on getting admission into a particular university. If you are going for a pre-degree program, make sure you are really brilliant.

PART-TIME PROGRAM – Part-time program is a local program. To, apply, you will need to write an entrance examination as it is in many university. The university usually sells the form for application. The program is much like full-time undergraduate except that they have their lectures mostly during the weekends. In most cases there is additional one or two years plus the normal full-time year. Besides, the school fee is usually on the high side. Before it is only the working class that goes for part-time but in recent years, young ones even in their teens go for part-time. If you don’t have age on your side, I think it is better than university Diplomas.

IJMB – IJMB is used to enter 200 level in some few selected universities. As at the time of compiling this manual, I know of University of Ilorin and Zaria. The admission is highly competitive and in most cases bias.