Daud Olatunji
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, announced on Saturday that civil servants holding Higher National Diplomas (HND) will be required to undergo a one-year mandatory training before their conversion from the Executive to Officers cadre.
This declaration was made during a virtual interactive session with civil servants as part of the 2024 Civil Service Week celebrations.
The theme for the week is “Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Life-long, Quality and Relevant Learning in Africa.”
In a statement issued from her office, Yemi-Esan highlighted the ongoing controversy regarding the disparity between polytechnic-awarded Higher National Diplomas and university degrees.
PLATFORM TIMES observed that the issue has sparked debate between the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
PLATFORM TIMES further gathered that a bill to address this dichotomy was passed by the Ninth National Assembly in 2021 but was not signed into law by the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
As a result, the NBTE introduced a one-year top-up programme designed to provide HND holders with a pathway to attain a bachelor’s degree.
Addressing a question from a civil servant during the session, Yemi-Esan explained, “The curriculum for HND and B.Sc holders is not the same; therefore, HND graduates must undergo a mandatory one-year training before their conversion from the Executive to Officers’ cadre.”
Dr. Yemi-Esan said “the theme of the 2024 Civil Service Week highlights how the Nigerian Civil Service is leveraging learning and development to enhance the capacity and capability of its workforce to deliver on national priorities.”.
The Head of the Civil Service also discussed the adoption of a Performance Management System (PMS) by the Nigerian Civil Service in response to the rapidly changing work environment and the need for greater efficiency.
She said the PMS Policy and Guidelines have been developed and circulated to all Ministries, extra-ministerial Departments, and Agencies, with core teams established for its implementation.
“PMS implementation has been cascaded to the Ministries, with the Permanent Secretaries serving as the primary drivers. Performance contracts are to be further cascaded down to the last officer in each MDA,” Yemi-Esan explained.
“This new system will assess each officer’s performance solely based on their respective Key Performance Indicators, enabling the tracking of job objectives across all MDAs.
Consequently, each officer can clearly link their goals and objectives with those of their department, Ministry, and national KPIs.”
While speaking on the ongoing digital transformation within the Federal Civil Service, she noted that all personal and policy files have been fully digitalised, and digital transaction workflows have been implemented.
According to her, official correspondences, including memos and internal and external circulars, are now processed electronically through the Enterprise Content Management solution.
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