National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has ascribed exclusion of graduates of the institution from participating in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to enabling laws guiding operations of the scheme.
Prof. Abdallah Adamu, Vice-Chancellor, NOUN made the clarifications during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
Adamu said that the law guiding the NYSC scheme provided that graduates from a distance learning institution should only be given an excluding certificate and will not need to participate in the scheme.
He explained that NYSC gives three types of offer certificates and no university in the country has such prerogative to do so.
“The participatory certificate is for those who participated in the scheme, the exemption certificate is for those in the armed forces and secret services, among others who are considered to be serving the nation already.
“While the excluding certificate is meant exclusively for those who attended a distance learning institution.
” NOUN is considered a distance learning institution because it is an open and distance learning institution, so all students who graduated from the university are given an excluding certificate.
“This is followed by a certificate of excluding by NYSC, which is equivalent to the participatory certificate as far as the job is concerned.
“If an employer rejects a candidate because he or she has an excluding certificate, then such employer is breaking the law, ” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor noted that the law guiding NYSC provides that even if a student is less than 30 years but attended a distance learning institution, he or she is entitled to an excluding certificate.
He expressed dismay on the demand of some students of the university that they want to attend NYSC when they have already been given the excluding certificate.
“The issue is not between NOUN and the graduates, but them and NYSC.
“NYSC has said they do not need to attend the service when they have already been given the excluding certificate, ” he said.