In a letter from the National Association of Polytechnic Students to the school management seen by SaharaReporters, the association called the attention of the management to the plight of former students.
Graduates of the Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology have cried out over the refusal of the school management to mobilise them for the National Youth Service Corps scheme many months after graduation.
The affected graduates who spoke to SaharaReporters said they learnt that their courses had not been accredited by the National Board for Technical Education, thus the reason why they were not mobilised.
“We were never told that the courses were not accredited when we were offered admission. In fact, the school stated that the courses in the management faculty were accredited and approved by the government.
“If we knew that the courses were not approved, I am sure that my colleagues and I would not have applied to study here,” one of the affected graduates who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation told SaharaReporters.
“I have graduated for over a year now but the school has yet to mobilise us. They told us not to talk about it in public but instead find something to do after school. They failed to address our concerns. Many of us are frustrated,” another affected graduate told SaharaReporters.
In a letter from the National Association of Polytechnic Students to the school management seen by SaharaReporters, the association called the attention of the management to the plight of former students.
It noted that those who studied in the Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Management and the Department of Statistics had been stranded for over three years for mobilisation for NYSC due to non-accreditation of both departments.
The association asked the management of the school to fix this issue and ensure the former students are mobilised for service; however, findings show that this has yet to happen.
The former students of the college who noted that their future was hanging on the balance called for urgent interventions to resolve the imbroglio that has denied them from reaping the fruit of their lifelong investments in studying at the college.
One of the parents of the affected former students said, “Our children signed out in April 2023 from Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora. Ever since then, the school management has refused to mobilise them, giving different stories.
“The students tried all means to discuss with the management but all discussions with them seem to be abortive. It's time to reap the fruit of our labour.”
When the official contact of the institution was reached, one Engineer S.O. Okediran acknowledged that the courses were not accredited when it was started by the college.
Okediran added that they were working round the clock to get students mobilised for national youth service.
He claimed that the new NYSC law was responsible for the delay.
“Because these courses were not accredited from outset, we got the accreditation done after the students graduated but the new law of the NYSC is why the students are being delayed and we are struggling that they don’t wait for two more sessions before being mobilised,” he told SaharaReporters.
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