Lagos – The Registrar, Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede,
says the board is working with the Federal
Government to actualise the needed change in the
education sector.
Oloyede, who made the assertion in a statement by
the board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr
Fabian Benjamin, said on Sunday in Lagos that
said such change would be possible with the
ongoing reforms in the establishment.
“The Prof. Is-haq Oloyede-led management of
JAMB has resolved to ensure that the change
agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari
government concerning education is actualised in
no distant time.
“This will be made possible through major reforms
currently going on in the board.
“I want to insist that the board will continue to
make reforms that will carry the interest of every
Nigerian child irrespective of status or class,’’ the
statement quoted the Registrar as saying.
It added that Oloyede expressed concern that most
national policies over the time were geared toward
accommodating the interest of the elite only and
leaving the downtrodden to suffer unjustly.
“In view of the above, the board restates that one
of such reforms it carried out recently was the
cancellation of the use of scratch cards as part of
its examination process.
“We shall continue to evolve and come up with
innovations that will take us to the next level.
“We must continue to think and come up with new
ways of doing things in the 21st century.
“This will ensure that our services are easily
accessible as well as discourage fraudulent or sharp
practices associated with some of the examination
processes so as to conform to global best
practices,’’ it said.
According to the statement, the registrar also
disclosed that the board has critically looked at the
process of regularising candidates and found a lot
of lapses.
It said that the board could not tolerate the trend
in its drive to effect positive change toward
enhancing the fortune of tertiary education in
Nigeria.
The statement said JAMB had designed a template
to be completed on-line by candidates and endorsed
by the Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts or
Registrars of the candidates’ institutions of
choice.
The templates, it said, would be submitted to the
board’s offices nearer to the institution for the
registrar’s approval subject to available evidence.
“The Registrar may deny approval if sufficient and
convincing reasons are not given.’’
It urged the public to note that all admissions were
done by the academic board of tertiary institutions
which, hitherto, were submitted to the board to
ensure that admissions met set requirements by
proprietors of the institutions and government
criteria.
According to the statement, there is no basis for
regularisation.
It said that the board only designed the process to
clear any backlog as it did not intend to continue
with regularisation exercise again.
The statement said Oloyede called for a national
debate on the propriety of cut off marks as
institutions should be allowed to determine the
kind of candidates they wanted.
It argued that the uniformity of cut of marks did
not in any way make sense when Colleges and
Polytechnics admit for NCE and Diplomas.
It said the universities on the other hand,
admitted for degrees and yet all candidates were
subjected to the same cut off marks.
It added that such stopped the Polytechnics and
Colleges of Education from admitting candidates
whom, if not engaged, might compromise their
future.
The statement expressed worries over class
opportunities as it affected the distribution of
admission resources, noting that the rich had
multiple opportunities, including going abroad for
studies.
It said the poor only had the opportunity of
struggling for the scarce access within the
country.
The statement said children of the rich also
participated in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation
Examination (UTME) and if they do not get the
required cut-off marks, they proceeded abroad to
further their studies.
It noted that on return at the end of their
academic pursuits, their rich parents get them
integrated.
It said their less privileged counterparts who could
not afford such luxury stay behind still trying to
get access that might never come.
“Let institutions admit what they want according
to their needs. This means that if a university
wants 250 as minimum cut off marks, why not let
it be and if another want less, then so be it.
“If a polytechnic like Yaba College of Technology in
Lagos wants 250 students, let it admit and if
Gboko Polytechnic in Benue wants less than 200 let
it be.
“Institutions should be known for their individual
quality and not collective standard.
“This will foster positive competition for the
overall good of our tertiary institutions,’’ the
statement said.
The statement urged Nigerians to critically reflect
on the development for the board to take action
that would be for the good of the country’s
education as well as the future of the Nigerian
child.
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