Reps pass bill prohibiting disparity between HND, B.SC graduates

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the bill abolishing the dichotomy between first Degree holders and Higher National Diploma (HND) holders.

This followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund by the lawmakers during the plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, in Abuja.

The bill which was sponsored by a member of the House, Edward Pwajok, during the 8th Assembly, passed the second reading in 2017.

Pwajok said research conducted on both certificates showed that the discrimination had no moral justification.

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He added that those with a first degree were placed on Grade Level 8 while those with HND in the same field were placed on Grade Level 6 or 7.

The lawmaker stressed that in some organisations, degree holders were paid N100, 000 at entry-level, while their HND counterparts received N70, 000 monthly salaries.

The bill will now be sent to the Senate for concurrence and then to the President for assent.

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