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JUST IN: NBTE Unveils Online Programmes For HND Conversion To BSc In One Year
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2 years agoon
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The National Board for Technical Education has unveiled an online top-up programme for Higher National Diploma holders to convert their certification to Bachelor’s Degree through online top-up for one year, with foreign accredited universities.
The board disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday by its Head of Media Unit, Mrs Fatima Abubakar.
Abubakar said this was also to facilitate the progression of HND holders to higher degrees.
“Attempts in the past to get the National Universities Commission to approve a two-year Master of Technology for HND holders in some polytechnics did not see the light of the day.
READ ALSO: Sign Bill Abolishing B.Sc, HND Dichotomy, Graduates Beg Buhari
“Many times, HND Holders are forced to go for a one-year Postgraduate Diploma before they could be admitted into the Master’s Program in Universities.
”The disadvantage of the PGD is that holders who continue to do PhD and wish to migrate to a Nigerian University will always be queried to produce their first degree, even when they have doctorates.
”To end this unwarranted prejudice, NBTE has now created this progression pathway for HND holders. This can be accessed at https://topup.nbte.gov.ng,” she said.
Abubakar added that another challenge facing many polytechnic HND graduates was mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps.
READ ALSO: Reps’ Bill Finally Ends Disparity Between BSc/HND, Recommends Stern Penality For Violators
According to her, many are admitted into non-accredited programmes and after the HND, they are not mobilised for the NYSC.
”NBTE has now created a HND admission portal for use by all polytechnics. Only accredited programmes shall be visible on the portal and NYSC shall have viewing rights to know admitted candidates to be mobilised.
”This will hopefully bring an end to illegal HND admissions of unaccredited programmes and at the same time ensure carrying capacities are adhered to for quality assurance.
”Finally, the board wishes to appeal to Mr President to please sign the bill removing the HND-BSc Dichotomy in the public service as passed by the last National Assembly.
READ ALSO: ASUP Commends NASS For Passaging Bill Abolishing Bsc, HND Dichotomy
”This is to end the unjust and undeserved discrimination against graduates of the polytechnic system,” she said.
She further said that the absence of legal backing necessitated the board to find ways of enhancing the standing of HND holders.
Abubakar said that this must be done because the HND holders in reality hold the key to Nigeria’s industrialisation and key skills for delivery of needed infrastructure in the country.
NAN
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India Issues Health Alert After Spike In ‘brain-eating’ Amoeba Deaths
Published
34 minutes agoon
September 18, 2025By
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India has issued a health alert after infections and deaths caused by a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba doubled compared to last year in the southern state of Kerala.
Numbers are still tiny but Altaf Ali, a doctor who is part of a government task force to arrest the spread, told AFP that officials were “conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases”.
Officials reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone.
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Last year, the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says it is often called a “brain-eating amoeba” because it can “infect the brain and destroy brain tissue”.
If the amoeba reaches the brain, it can cause an infection that kills over 95 per cent of those affected.
Infections are “very rare but nearly always fatal”, the CDC notes.
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The amoeba lives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. It does not spread from person to person.
The World Health Organisation says that symptoms include headache, fever and vomiting, which rapidly progresses to “seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations, and coma”.
“It’s worrying that new cases this year have emerged from across the state, as opposed to specific pockets in the past,” Ali said.
Since 1962, nearly 500 cases have been reported worldwide, mostly in the United States, India, Pakistan, and Australia.
AFP
Headline
Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger
Published
22 hours agoon
September 17, 2025By
Editor
Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.
The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.
A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.
“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
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Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.
“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.
Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.
Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.
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Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.
The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.
Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.
Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.
AFP
Headline
Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy
Published
2 days agoon
September 16, 2025By
Editor
Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.
The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.
“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.
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Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.
The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.
The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.
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The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.
That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.
In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.
AFP
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