Nation
JAMB Tasks Tertiary Institutions On CAPS
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned against offering of admissions to applicants by higher institutions outside the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).
JAMB said apart from distorting the statistics of enrollment into the nation’s tertiary institutions which it noted is required for national planning and development strategies, the conduct is also “a violation of ministerial directive on education policy.”
The JAMB registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, who said this on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, noted that in spite of the constant warning against such conduct, Nigerian tertiary institutions offered a total of 706,189 ‘illegal’ admissions across universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and monotechnics between 2017 and 2020.
According to Oloyede, a total of 114 degree-awarding institutions including universities and colleges of education that are affiliated with them conducted 67,795 ‘illegal’ admissions within the period.
He added that a total of 137 National Diploma (ND) certificates awarding institutions such as polytechnics and school of health technologies offered a total of 142,818 ‘illegal’ admissions within the three-year period, while 37 institutions that are categorised as monotechnics offered 5,678 ‘illegal’ admissions.
The JAMB registrar said; “In 2017, the Board introduced the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) as a flowchart to ensure quality control, transparency and credibility of admissions. Among other reasons, it was also meant to completely eliminate human interference, which invariably led to abuse, in the processing of admissions into the nation’s tertiary institutions. The system allows institutions to only admit candidates that meet the requirements as prescribed by individual institutional proprietors and academic Boards/ Senates. The process entails: initiation of the admission of a candidate by the institutional admissions officer after having confirmed the satisfaction of the set criteria; recommendation of the candidate by the head of the institution; approval of the admission by JAMB; acceptance of the admission by the candidate; and printing of the admission letter by the candidate.
“All these are done without hassles or encumbrances. Any process outside this scheme is illegitimate and it renders the admission process null, void and ultra vires. It is rather disappointing that some institutions continue to defy this decision of the National Policy Meeting, ably chaired by the Honourable Minister of Education, that CAPS is the only platform for processing admissions to the tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”
According Mr Oloyede’s presentation, the top five universities with the highest number of ‘illegal’ admissions offered within the period are the Universities of Jos, Plateau State with 7,600 cases; Benue State University, Makurdi with 6,161 cases; Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, with 5,669 cases; Kwara State University, Malete with 4,281 cases and Novena University, Delta State with 3,432 cases.
Among the ND certificate awarding institutions, the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, topped the chart with a total of 45,471 cases within three years, and it is closely followed by Auchi Polytechnic, Edo State, with 37,828 cases and Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, with 30,856 cases within the same period.
Others are the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State and the Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa, Nasarawa State with 24,335 and 24,335 respectively.
Oloyede said apart from distorting the national statistics, candidates admitted through the irregular admission processes are made to go through difficult times in their efforts to climb the next rung of either their career or academic ladders.
“Sadly, this practice by our institutions has damaged the image of the country as statistics provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and similar agencies are rendered inaccurate by as high as 900 per cent in some cases. This distorts the statistics of the number of students in our tertiary institutions. JAMB is then made to supply radically different figures of entrants for the same year. In addition, misplaced pressure is annually mounted on JAMB to condone (or regularise) such illegal and improper admissions made three or four years earlier by the heads of institutions who in almost all the cases are not the incumbent ones.
“Another absurdity is that the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for tertiary education which JAMB provides for the Federal Ministry of Education is fed into the global databank of tertiary institutions and Nigeria continues to publish a low GER record which is far from the reality on ground. Also, one of the unsavoury effects of the undisclosed admissions by tertiary institutions is that it makes planning difficult. As we all know, failure to plan is planning to fail and we cannot overemphasise the importance of proper planning.”
According to Oloyede, beneficiaries of such ‘illegal’ admissions upon graduation are made “victims of deprivations.”
“When the graduates of the illegitimate process need JAMB admission letters to pursue post-graduation endeavours like housemanship, scholarship, enrolment into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), among others, they realise that they are out of sync. Some candidates had been forced in the past to seek Direct Entry into other universities after graduation just because their degrees were not recognised as a result of lack of admission letters at critical stages. The physical, psychological and mental strain on such candidates is better imagined than experienced. This could have been avoided if everyone played the game according to the rules,” Mr Oloyede added.
The JAMB registrar also expressed disappointment over what he described as massive fraud in the conduct of the two A Level entrance examinations in the country- Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board (JUPEB) and the Interim Joint Matriculation Board Examination (IJMBE).
“It is quite disappointing that some of our colleagues were arrested while conniving with various examination syndicates to compromise the noble objectives of these two examinations. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) conducted a sting operation the result of which is monumentally embarrassing,” he said.
As a way of finding a lasting solution to the challenge, JAMB said it has already proposed to the education minister, Adamu Adamu, the desire to establish both A-Level task team and A-Level Qualification Verification Databank, which he noted will serve as repository for verified A-level qualifications in the country.
Meanwhile, the examination body said it has approved the introduction of two more subjects in its examination to be added to the existing 23 subjects for possible combinations by candidates.
The addition of the two subjects- Computer Studies and Physical and Health Education, will “enhance the career prospects of students transiting to tertiary institutions.”
Oloyede said the subjects will be available for candidates taking the UTME examination in 2022.
JAMB said as part of efforts towards curbing some identified “unethical practices” by operators of the accredited computer based testing (CBT) centres, it has resolved to embed the centres’ approved N700 charges for registration purposes in its application form fees.
“These centres are allowed to collect only Seven Hundred Naira (N700.00) as registration charges but they use the opportunity to engage in conduct unbecoming, including extortion, during the exercise. In order to put a stop to such extortion, we propose to make UTME registration henceforth cashless. In other words, JAMB will now be collecting the approved N700.00 registration fee on behalf of the CBT Centres along with its UTME registration fees and then remit what is due to each registration centre to its bank account on a weekly basis or any time frame acceptable to the centre owners. This intervention will block all loopholes through which hapless candidates are extorted by unscrupulous service providers,” the JAMB registrar said.
Nation
Gombe Opens Bid For Construction Of Three-Arm Zone Project
Gombe State Ministry of Works, Housing and Transportation has opened bids for the construction of three arms zone complexes within the Gombe Capital Special Development Zone which held at the Ministry’s conference hall.
Speaking while presiding over the bid opening proceedings, the Commissioner, Engr. . Usman Maijama’a Kallamu assured the bidders that the bid opening would be carried out using procurement process which is based on specific regulations that are credible, fair, and transparent.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alh. Idris Yambiu Buba said that the Ministry will continue to align itself for optimal results in the implementation of government policies and projects in line with Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s commitment to bringing development to the State.
While assuring the bidders of a transparent process, the SSA to the Governor on Special Project, Arch. Yakubu Mamman thanked Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for his foresight in infrastructural development of the State, adding that government is committed to ensuring that all bidders had an equal chance to participate and compete based on merit to maintain standards and specifications.
Nation
Gov Mbah Signs Bill To Establish Teaching Hospital In Enugu
Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, yesterday, signed the Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS) Teaching Hospital Bill 2024 into Law, promising to expedite action to actualise the teaching hospital immediately to provide quality training and healthcare services in the Enugu North part of the State and the State in general.
Mbah, while commending the Enugu State House of Assembly for accelerating action on the processing and passage of the Executive Bill, said that establishing SUMAS Teaching Hospital was in line with his manifesto.
He said, “What we have done by signing into law the Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences Teaching Hospital Bill is that we now have in place a legal framework to immediately begin to put in place all that is required to upgrade SUMAS to a teaching hospital. This is part of our campaign promises and we are committed to delivering on that expeditiously.
“We believe that the importance and significance of siting a teaching hospital in our Enugu North zone can never be lost on us. So, we are not going to spend any time in making sure that everything that is necessary and required to upgrade and get the teaching hospital operational is put in place. With this Law, we are going to redouble our commitment and our efforts to achieve that.”
He assured the Governing Council and the Management of SUMAS of his continued support, adding that his administration would equally be counting on their pedigree and contacts to bring the teaching hospital to fruition in record time.
“We are going to continue to support you and we are also going to continue to count on your experience, network, and profile in raising resources to actualize the project.
“This year alone, we are going to spend 33 per cent of our budget on education. This underscores the importance of education to this administration. So, be sure to come to us whenever there is a need. We are going to support you because we are interested in education and we are investing heavily in it,” he said.
On his part, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ugwu, who also spoke at the Bill signing witnessed by the Chairman of SUMAS Governing Council, Msgr. Obiora Ike, and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. James Ogbonna, and top hierarchies of the institution, commended Governor Mbah’s speed and faithfulness in delivering on his campaign promises. He assured that the House of Assembly was ever ready to fast-track every executive bill that would impact positively on the state and its people.
“We promised we are going to support this administration by doing our job expeditiously to ensure that there is no delay in your delivery of democracy dividends to our people. Therefore, the SUMAS Teaching Hospital Bill received expedited hearing and today you have the signing of the bill into law,” he stated.
Nation
Ododo Applauds Security Agencies Over Rescue Of 43 Bus Passengers
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has applauded security agencies in the State for their efforts in the rescue of 43 bus passengers.
The Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Ismaila Isah disclosed this in a statement yesterday.
The statement noted that the governor welcomed the news of the release of the abducted bus passengers in Okehi Local Government Area of the State and called for sustained collaboration between security agencies and local communities to improve intelligence gathering and prevent crime and criminality in all parts of the state.
Ododo commended the caretaker chairman of Okehi LGA, Mr Amoka Eneji, the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Professional Hunters, Ebira Local Hunters Group and other security agencies for their intervention, which led to the rescue of the passengers who were abducted outside the state.
“Governor Ododo also commends the response of security agencies to the robbery incidence in Felele area of Lokoja and called for more urgency in addressing cases of insecurity in any part of the state.
“The Governor reassured the people of the state that his administration will not relent in its efforts in deploying maximum resources to ensure that all communities in the state remain unsafe for criminal elements.”
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