Nigerians have continue to react to the recent scrapping of general cut-off marks for admission into the country’s tertiary institutions by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.
The examination body had at its August 31, 2021, virtual policy meeting chaired by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said that tertiary institutions were now to set their own minimum benchmarks.
While some stakeholders laud the move, adding that the decision would help loosen JAMB’s grip on the universities, others say it would enable some institutions to get enough candidates to fill up existing vacancies in their various programmes.
Speaking on the issue, a former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji, applauded the development, noting that it was the right step in the right direction.
She told journalists in an interview in Lagos that it would once again ensure that tertiary institutions go for what they want.
She said ”It is the tertiary institutions that produce these graduates and so, it will not be out of place to allow them to determine for themselves who they feel is suitably qualified.
She added that universities elsewhere and even within the country, usually fix minimum benchmark for various programmes.
”However, if I may ask, when there was uniform benchmark, how many of these institutions were obeying the rules?” she queried.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwole Familoni, described the development as a ‘mix bag’.
According to the professor of chemistry, while it is cheering news to some institutions, especially private ones, others are indifferent.
He said for established universities, for instance, the development does not really matter adding that before this development, where universities were directed to take candidates with scores as low as 180, University of Lagos still had its benchmark.
He stated that the development favours most schools who hardly get enough candidates to fill up existing vacancies in their various programmes.
He, however, argued that it was not the responsibility of JAMB to give placements to candidates in the first place, adding ”It is good JAMB is reducing its grip on universities, allowing them to do what they want,” Familoni stated.
National Treasurer, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Segun Raheem, also applauded the decision by the board describing it as heartwarming.
Raheem argued that in the first place, JAMB should not be saddled with the responsibility of giving admissions to candidates that had applied for various programmes in the respective institutions.
He stated that this was in form of arbitration of universities autonomy.
Raheem added giving all tertiary institutions opportunities to determine their cut-off marks is a great idea that will not downgrade the education system in tertiary institutions.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students, Joint Campus Committee, Lagos chapter, said that the abolishment of cut-off marks by JAMB was a sign that the country’s education system was losing its quality and values.
Chairman of the association, Rasheed Ogunsanya, said that cut-off marks were supposed to be a benchmark for any candidate who craved higher education.
He bemoaned the fact that only less than 30 per cent of candidates who sat for the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination by JAMB were successful.
He stated that with this low percentage of successful candidates, JAMB did not have any choice, than to allow many institutions to decide for themselves.
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