The Federal Government has quashed the new admission policy adopted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The examination body had implemented a policy with which students seeking admission into various Nigerian universities with excessive candidates for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) are redistributed to other universities with lower number of candidates.
The Presidency’s decision was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mr MacJohn Nwaobiala, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on the ministry’s activities and challenges at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Prior to Nwaobiala’s meeting with the President, JAMB Registrar, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, on Monday, explained the rationale behind the examination body’s new admission policy, which had generated protests from candidates and parents.
Professor Ojerinde said that the new policy was to save the time and energy of the students and reduce the number of students who fail to get admission into tertiary institutions yearly.
He said that all schools, including the University of Lagos (UNILAG) had their standards depending on the number of candidates applying into their institutions.
JAMB Registrar further stressed that although, JAMB had set its procedures by setting the cut-off mark at 180, “it does not mean all 180 scorers would be called for the Post-UTME” also called post-JAMB examinations in the schools.
However, the President of the Association of Tutorial School Operators, Oludotun Sodunke, had accused JAMB of not carrying the stakeholders along in their decision-making, but Professor Ojerinde debunked the claim.
