The Federal Government of Nigeria has said that over one million candidates sitting for the University Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) may not gain access into the tertiary institutions.
The Minister of Education, Ruqayyatu Rufai told a news conference in Abuja that current carrying capacity of tertiary institutions across the country is only about five hundred thousand which cannot cater for the 1.7million candidates sitting for the UTME.
Professor Rufai, who bemoaned the grossly inadequate number of universities in the country, appealed for more public private partnerships for the establishment of more institutions to increase access to university education in Nigeria.
Every year, the growing number of students who enrol for admission into tertiary institutions becomes alarming; the evidence is shown by the number of students siting for this year’s Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB)’s examination.
JAMB announced that over 1.7million candidates registered for the UTME, an increase of 13.35percent compared to last years. But the main worry here is that there is only space for one-third of this population, the remaining candidates who have passed may never get admitted.
