The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, said on Wednesday that the federal government is to blame for the worsening state of polytechnics in the country, as well as the discrimination against its graduates by employers of labour.

The union’s  public relations officer, Clement Chirman, said on Wednesday in Yola, Adamawa State, that it is regrettable that the federal government has not demonstrated enough will to accede to the teachers’ demands six months after it commenced a nationwide strike action.

Chirman told journalists that the attitude of government is a clear manifestation of government’s estimation of the importance of polytechnic education.

“It is this same perception that acerbated the discrimination and marginalisation of the sector and its graduates by both the public and private sectors of the economy. We make bold to say that the critical state of the polytechnic sector today has significantly been encouraged by government’s attitude and approach to issues concerning it,” he said.

He also blamed the country’s slow technological development on government’s insensitivity to polytechnic education.

The union therefore solicited the support of the members of the public in pressing home its demands, insisting that it would continue with its industrial action until the federal government grants its demands.

Some of the issues in contention include the migration of the lower cadres on the CONTISS 15 salary scale, the release of the White Paper on the visitation panels to federal polytechnics and the commencement of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Polytechnics, among others.