KADUNA, KADUNA STATE– The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has moved the blame for the delayed mobilization of Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) onto polytechnics and other technical organizations.
The board revealed that lots of graduates remain “stranded” for months or years due to administrative failures and flagrant offenses of established academic progression policies.
The Executive Secretary of the NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, speaking through the board’s NYSC Desk Officer, Dauda Baba‑Halal, on Sunday, March 15, 2026, specified that the primary bottleneck is the failure of institutions to impose obligatory pre-HND requirements.
A central issue identified by the NBTE is the offense of the compulsory 1 year Industrial Training (IT) policy. According to the board, numerous organizations have been confessing trainees into HND programs immediately after their National Diploma (ND) without ensuring they finish the necessary year of industry experience.
Read also: NBTE reveals brand-new HND health curriculum
“If a trainee continues to HND without finishing the compulsory one-year Industrial Training, the NYSC will not set in motion that student because the academic progression is insufficient,” Bugaje alerted.
He kept in mind that while the policy is enduring, some institutions bypass it to increase registration, producing a verification crisis at the point of graduation.
To curb these abnormalities, the NBTE has actually strengthened its oversight through the HND Admission Website. This nationwide database tracks student records and academic history to ensure that every candidate sent for NYSC mobilization has followed the legal series.
Prof. Bugaje also dealt with common misunderstandings relating to the roles of numerous bodies. He clarified that the Joint Admissions and Admission Board (JAMB) is exclusively accountable for admissions into the National Diploma (ND) level and plays no function in the mobilization of HND graduates.
The responsibility for HND oversight and NYSC clearance rests completely on the synergy between the polytechnics, the NBTE (as the regulator), and the NYSC (as the plan operator).
The NBTE employer prompted organizations facing mobilization challenges to stop blaming administrative “bottlenecks” at the national level and rather fix their internal paperwork.
He encouraged that organizations ought to officially interact any distinct challenges to the NBTE or NYSC for resolution, instead of leaving graduates in a state of professional limbo.
The board declared that only graduates from recognized programs who have successfully gone through the confirmed HND Admission Portal will be considered eligible for the nationwide service scheme progressing.