UTME: JAMB,VCs On War Path

Senator representing South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe (right) with wife of Rivers State Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi and member , House of Representatives, Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency, Hon Dakuku Peterside, during the 2nd National Conference on Kindergarten Education in Port Harcourt ,on Wednesday.

Stakeholders in the education sector, have called on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and universities to put in place a workable process to successfully admit qualified candidates into tertiary institutions.

They made the call at the commencement of a three-day investigative hearing into the illegality of the post-UTME  and the failure of JAMB to conduct examinations acceptable by universities.

The Senate had on October 13, after debating a motion raised by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri on the issue, mandated  its Committee on Education to investigate the matter.

In his presentation, Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, told the committee that the issue of post- UTME had to be reviewed since it was contrary to the enabling laws of the board.

Ojerinde said that the Post-UTME was supposed to be a screening by the universities and not another examination.

“There was a meeting between the stakeholders and Mr President at that time on JAMB and the post-UTME.

“He clearly stated that I didn’t ask you to go and conduct another examination, rather he said he had only approved screening of admitted candidates. ’’

The JAMB registrar said the board was using the advancement of technology to its advantage, even as he admitted that JAMB had some challenges.

“There are several challenges in JAMB that we are improving on everyday especially in the area of the release of results.

“The JAMB result before the last was released eight days after the examination and the last one was released nine days after,’’ he said.

A former Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Mohammed Abdulraman, reacting to the accusation that JAMB was not conducting satisfactory examinations, said that all the questions and the marking scheme for JAMB were provided by the universities.

Another former JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ahmed Salim, also told the committee that there were more malpractices in JAMB examinations in the university centres than other centres.

Former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji, who introduced the post-UTME during her tenure, however, told the committee that it was the shortcomings of JAMB that led to the introduction of post-UTME.

She said what led to the introduction of the post-UTME was that JAMB always reserved a supplementary list for ministers, senators and other notable Nigerians.

Obaji, who said there was no correlation between JAMB scores and the actual performance of students, explained that “the idea of post –UTME was to confirm that you are the actual candidate that wrote the examination.

“We conducted an examination for people who had scored more than 300 in JAMB and asked them the question: what is the difference between a plant and a man?” the former minister said.

She expressed regrets that some of them could not provide satisfactory answers to the question.

Obaji said that the intentions of post-UTME had been abused, given the scenario whereby the Vice-Chancellors were under a lot of pressure to admit candidates of notable Nigerians.

She advocated that Vice-Chancellors should be strengthened to do what was right, adding that, “if post-UTME is conducted properly, we will have quality graduates. “The former Minister and a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) opined that the process should be corrected and not scrapped.

Some senators who made contributions at the public hearing also said that both JAMB and the universities should work out modalities to make the process more transparent and less stressful for parents and the students.

Meanwhile, Prof. Adebayo Adeyemi, the Vice Chancellor,  Bells University of Technology, Ota in Ogun State, says that the Post-University Matriculation Tertiary Examination (UTME) was relevant.

Adeyemi said this in Ota on Wednesday, at a news conference organised ahead of the institution’s 3rd convocation ceremony from November 1 to November 5.

The Vice Chancellor alleged that many students obtained high scores from the UTME through fraudulent means.

According to him, the universities could no longer absolutely rely on the UTME scores presented by the students due to alleged malpractices that often characterised the examinations.

He cited instances where students had been admitted in some universities based on high UTME scores, but had to be advised to withdraw due to inability of the students to cope with academic standards.

Adeyemi argued that each university should be allowed to conduct a post-UTME test to be able to have an independent assessment of the students to be admitted.

He also explained that such tests would offer the institution the opportunity to interact with the intending students and instil some of the virtues of the institution in them.

While admitting that the exercise was not full proof, he argued that it would serve as a measure to refine the students.

Adeyemi noted that if Nigerian universities must produce graduates of world standard, the admission process into the institutions must be thorough.

Our correspondent recalls that the Senate in the National Assembly had directed its Committee on Education to review and suggest whether or not the post-UTME should be conducted before admissions.

Adeyemi cautioned that the Senate should not take a unilateral decision on the issue, describing it as sensitive.

Meanwhile, the vice chancellor said 19  out of the 251 graduating students obtained First Class Honours degree in various courses.

He said that 91 students obtained Second Class Upper, 105 had Second Class Lower Division while 37 obtained Third Class Honours degree.

Accoring to him, the convocation lecture would be delivered by Prof. Tekena Tamuno, a former Chairman, Board of Trustees of the institution.

Senator representing South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe (right) with wife of Rivers State Governor, Dame Judith Amaechi and member , House of Representatives, Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency, Hon Dakuku Peterside, during the 2nd National Conference on Kindergarten Education in Port Harcourt ,on Wednesday.