Full meaning of ND and OND, HND,PGD, MBA, PhD & others

Do you want to know the full meaning of ND and OND, HND and PGD, MBA and Phd? In this guide today, we will be discussing the full meaning of all school related acronyms step-by-step.

Sometimes, a frequently used words usually get shortened, for example, Dr. for Doctor, Prof for Professor, HND for Higher National Diploma, etc. If you want to know the full meaning of all educational certificates, then this article is for you.

The journey of education stops at PhD which stands for Doctor of Philosophy. What is more important after finishing your PhD program is that you have to be more hardworking by writing books and lecturing to achieve your Professor grade which is more indicative.

Now, let’s start discussing the full meaning of ND and OND and others with their respective years to spend to obtain them.

Full meaning of ND and OND and others

Differences between OND and ND

Currently, Ordinary National Diploma (OND) has been changed to National Diploma (ND) which can only be awarded by the polytechnic. Click here the list of all approved polytechnics in Nigeria.

OND and ND certificate are equivalent which a students that study in polytechnic for a two years course will be awarded with and it can can be used to seek for admission into Higher National Diploma or 200 level admission into the university on a direct entry mode. You may see our guide on how to create a blog very fast step-by-step.

How to use ND or OND to seek admission in Nigeria

To gain direct entry admission into the university with ND awarded certificate, you must buy JAMB direct entry form and take part in the post UTME or admission screening exercise of the school of your choice.

If you pass, you’ll be offered admission into 200 level in the university of your choice with proposed course by JAMB and the school.

When you complete your 2-year ND course at any polytechnic, you’re awarded ND. This serves as the prerequisite to further your education at a university through JAMB direct entry admission (as earlier explained).

You can also further to another level at your polytechnic or any other. This level is called HND. HND is also run for two years as well.

Whereas, it’s being proposed that Nigerian polytechnics will henceforth be limited to the award of ND only. Hence, candidates who wish to study further can obtain the JAMB Direct Entry form and cross to universities – where they continue from the 200 level.

Now, after completing your HND program, you can decide to get a job or further your education in the university to obtain PGD. Please note that with HND, you can’t go for Master’s degree directly, hence, PGD must be obtained first.

Meanwhile, PGD stands for Post Graduate Diploma. The first and basic difference between the PGD and Master’s degree is that the MBA is a Degree program whereas a PGD is a diploma program.

Duration for a PGD programme depends on specific schools and courses. It ranges from a year to two. The shortest time would not be less than 9 months.

The duration for a PGD is also dependent types of study, full time, part time, sandwish or distance learning. Do note that unlike M.Phil., PGD is a terminal programme, except in rare cases. Admission for a Masters degree is not automatic, and the prospective student needs to apply formally.

An MBA program also popularly called Master’s degree is offered by a government or private university or a college affiliated with a university.

To put it in simple terms, MBA refers to a management degree issued by a University and PGDM refers to Post Graduate Diploma in Management offered by a private college or a fully NUC licensed university. Apart from this, there is no major difference between MBA and PGDM.

There are many PGD programmes in virtually every course of study, but the most popular seems to be the postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE). This is necessary for all who desire to become a teacher or lecturer at any level (primary – university) but did not study education.

There are also PGD in Journalism, PGD in Engineering, PGD in some medical fields and PGD in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Economics, etc.

In Nigeria, PGD is required for HND (Higher National Diploma) graduate by some University before proceeding for a Masters programme.

Full meaning of HND and how it works

HND stands for Higher National Diploma. It is the award given to a polytechnic graduate after completing a 2-year National Diploma, 1 or 2 years Industrial Training (IT)

Please note that gaining admission to run an HND program, it doesn’t require writing Post UTME again or obtaining the JAMB direct entry form. In this way, applicants are only to take part in the school’s organized entrance test and interview or screening.

Conclusion

Please share this article with your friends and remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more important updates if you know that it has helped you know the full meaning of ND and OND and others. You can also find me on Facebook. You may see our guide on tips on how to make a Google-friendly blog.