The Head of Service of the Federation, (HoSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has spoken about the lingering controversy surrounding HND and B.Sc graduates’ dichotomy.
She pointed out that the curriculum for HND and B.Sc is not the same.
Yemi-Esan was responding to enquiries by a level 14 civil servant, Mr. Ayodele Hassan, when she offered the explanation.
According to her, “HND graduates will have to undergo mandatory one year training before conversion from Executive to Officer cadre.”
The HoS said this when she met (virtually) with civil servants as part of events lined up to celebrate the 2024 Civil Service Week with the theme ‘Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality and Relevant Learning’, held in Abuja.
She said that the rapidly changing work environment, as well as demands for greater efficiency had necessitated the adoption of Performance Management System (PMS) by the Nigeria Civil Service, adding that PMS Policy and Guidelines have been developed and circulated to all Ministries, extra-ministerial Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and core teams for its implementation had been constituted.
According to Yemi-Esan: “PMS implementation has been cascaded to the Ministries, with the Permanent Secretaries serving as the primary drivers. In this regard, performance contracts are to be further cascaded down to the last officer in each MDA.
“This new system will assess each officer’s performance solely based on their respective Key Performance Indicators (KPI), and it will enable tracking of job objectives across all MDAs.
“By implication, each officer across the Service can clearly link his/her goals and objectives with those of his/her department, those of the respective Ministry and the national KPIs.”
The HoS further described the digitalisation of work processes in the Service as another reference point in the remarkable ongoing transformation of the Federal Civil Service.