NASLTES Pays Courtesy Visit to NISLT

The Executives of the National Association of Science Laboratory Technology Students (NASLTES) were at the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT) to inform the Director General, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, Yemi Hezekiah Gbadegesin about the NASLTES Executives, their plans, challenges and to ask for support from the Institute.

During the visit, the Chief of Staff to the NASLTES National President, Amadi Kingsley eulogized the Director General of the Institute for his administrative ingenuity and the good works he has been doing since he became the Institute’s helm’s man. Amadi told the Director General that they had the election that brought them into the leadership positions of NASLTES at the National level in December, 2023 and were sworn into office in May, 2024. He said the delay in assuming office was what caused the late visit to the Institute.

Speaking further, the National President, of NASLTES, Erhijota Caleb, commended the DG for finding time to meet with them, while he corroborated his Chief of Staff, he appreciated the DG for the Institute’s licensure of graduates of the Science Laboratory Technology Program in the Universities and Polytechnics, which he said have given members of the Profession opportunities for employment, making the dream of NASLTES come to reality.

Erhijota also told the Director General that SLT students in the various schools are not united and that has made it difficult for them to work in the same direction for the interest of the profession, which is why he said it is difficult for them to organize national seminars and hold student conferences.

The National body of NASLTES lack funds, we took over an empty purse when we came into office, we have been running the Association from our wallet, and even the trip we made to Ibadan was self-sponsored and this makes it almost impossible for us to function as an executive he said.

While still speaking the National President of NASLTES said the Association needs adequate funding to organize conferences and seminars to orientate their members who he said are completely uninformed about the procedures of NISLT in getting inducted, he claimed that lack of information is the reason why very many graduates of SLT are not able to go for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the end of their program in the Universities and Polytechnics. He also complained about the intimidation of their members by most school authorities offering SLT when their members attempt to speak against the anomalies found in SLT program as most of their lecturers do not have the prerequisite to teach the SLT courses.

The President therefore asked the Institute for financial support to enable them to organize programs that will be of benefit to their members in the form of collaboration where NISLT would send top management members of staff to present papers at such orientation programs. He advised that NISLT should take up the role of mentoring and networking to give their members a sense of belonging and responsibility. He added that the Institute should avail them detailed information of those they can relate with in the various geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

The NASLTES South-West Coordinator, Aloh Emmanuel stated at the meeting that he observed the biggest challenge in some of the schools offering SLT programs was lack of cordial relationships between the SLT graduates and their Heads of Department due to too many HODs because the various options of SLT has its HOD and there are so many SLT options on one hand and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and NISLT regulating one program on the other hand, which has caused a big barrier in the induction of SLT graduates.

Aloh during the meeting raised an issue from the press release by the Executives of the Association of Science Laboratory Technologists of Nigeria (ASLTON) where he tried to find out the position of the Institute concerning professional members of the Institute working in diagnostic laboratories in Nigeria. This he said has caused a lot of confusion among their members including issues bothering on the writing of the NISLT professional Examination before they can go for NYSC.

He further pleaded with the Director General that the Institute should consider a waiver for SLT graduates who have passed out before the Institute started the professional examination and where that is not possible those categories of students should be allowed to pay the same examination fee as current students, he insisted that it was not the fault of those students because they were not informed by their schools and the reduction of the professional examination fee.

The National Secretary General of NASLTES, Onyemaechi Victor in his reference to the Press Release by ASLTON said only SLT graduates with practicing licenses can go for NYSC and also pleaded with the DG, NISLT to allow those who are not aware of the current position to go for NYSC.

In his response, the Director General, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT) Yemi Gbadegesin stated that the reason for disunity in the profession was because round pegs were put in square holes, lecturers who did not study SLT were made to teach especially in polytechnics. He quarried that NBTE accredits SLT programs in Polytechnics where the lecturers were not professional members of the Institute, you cannot give what you don’t have, he submitted. He warned that the SLT program would be closed in all polytechnics where lecturers without SLT backgrounds are made to teach the program.

The DG suggested to the NASLTES National Executives to bring back Development Levies to fund their programs because they need such seminars and conferences to put them on the same page professionally, he maintained that they will learn new things at such programs. NASLTES should be ambassadors of NISLT and able to talk to their Institutions to do the needful.

Yemi Gbadegesin told them to relate with members of ASLTON in their schools for resource persons during their conferences or seminars to orientate them on the SLT profession. He also suggested that they could organize Zoom meetings and invite him to speak on such occasions and refuse lecturers without the SLT background to participate in their program. That he said will send a very strong message to the leadership of their schools.

The DG asserted that cordial relationships can only be in the direction where SLT graduates sit for their professional examinations, as it is only the SLT graduates who passed their professional examinations that would be inducted and issued Professional licenses that will be required at the NYSC orientation camp and that only lecturers with SLT backgrounds would be allowed to teach SLT courses before NBTE accredits the SLT program in Polytechnics. He also mentioned that there was an understanding between NISLT and NYSC that SLT graduates can only be posted to organizations relevant to their specialty.

The DG educated the NASLTES Executives on the Membership Professional Examination (MPE) scheduled to hold in October 2024, he said it comprises modules 1 and 2 to take care of the backlogs they complained about and advised all the affected participants to take advantage of the October diet. He told the Executives of NASLTES that irrespective of when their members graduated they should go to their respective schools to profile them as current students, that way, they will not be treated or made to pay examination fees as external candidates, if they cannot go to the school where they graduated for any reason, they can as well approach the Institute for assistance. He directed them to the Institute website for MPE guidelines and approved centres.

The DG asked for the understanding of the NASLTES concerning a reduction in the professional examination fees, which he said would not be possible because of the cost of conducting the professional examination as approved by the Institute’s Council before their dissolution with the possibility of writing the re-sit examination if any, at the rate prescribed in the guideline.

The Director, Planning, Research and Development (PRD), Pius Ikokoh added his voice that those who recently passed out of school should take modules 1 and 2, and get inducted, for them to get the practicing license to enable them to go for NYSC.

The Director General who quickly added to what Ikokoh was saying, said that the Institute’s Council had so instructed before the present government dissolved it, and as such there is nothing that he can do in that regard.

In his conclusion the Director General, Yemi Gbadegesin opined that NASLTES can be mentored to achieve their vision and aspiration of being professional students of SLT.

Going forward, he suggested that they should have the National Patron for NASLTES from the Institute, and branch Patrons from their Institution i.e. HODs of SLT program among those that studied SLT only, and their zonal patron could be NISLT zonal representatives.

The DG gave the NASLTES Executive the directory of ASLTON and told them to interface with them and if possible direct all their correspondence through the official NISLT e-mail addresses.