JAMB, private universities and prospective students

The admonition by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to candidates to pick a private university as second choice is creating uproars among parents and prospective university students.  Last year, JAMB experimented with a policy, which it said it adopted to de-congest the ‘privileged public universities’ and allow other institutions to have their fair share of students admission.

These other institutions, in JAMB’s estimation, happen to be private universities. According to Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Head of Media and Information, JAMB took the decision because most candidates hardly get admission to their first choice universities and probably reluctant to choose polytechnics and colleges of education. “Candidates can select NCE as their choice up to three times— 1st choice, 2nd choice and 3rd choice. But they are not allowed to select two public universities as choices.

If candidates select a public university as their degree awarding choice, they are allowed to select a private university as another choice.”
Yes, we restricted the choice to one but candidates can choose as many colleges or polytechnics. We discovered it was of no use choosing a university as second choice when in actual sense they can’t even accommodate their first choices,” the JAMB official said.
Although JAMB came up with the policy to address a lingering problem, that is most candidates making a choice of especially first generation universities or universities situated in major cities, the idea has raised more questions and concerns from those the issue affects the most—parents.

The question parents are asking is who will bear the cost of private universities that are beyond the rich of the average Nigerian parent and whose interest is JAMB serving? Is it the tax payers whose monies are used to run the public universities, or a privileged few, who are driven by profits (and not pursuit of knowledge), to set up universities?
JAMB also said the idea was to fill the least patronized universities.

On this, JAMB has got it all wrong. It is not up to JAMB to advertise or look for patronage for private universities. Those who set up universities must have done feasibility studies which should include admission process. It is a wrong approach on the part of JAMB to advocate funding and admission leeway for private universities. A few years ago, private universities sought to enjoy funding window provided by the Tiatiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to public universities to a level they should be.

All of a sudden, there was a clamour by private universities to be part of that funding window. The question is: are government officials oiling their private businesses with government funds? Although it is an open secret that public funds are often diverted for private use, it is ludicrous that government officials openly advocate such with regards to the ivory tower.

But to give an anomaly an official imprimatur is to take insensitivity and corruption to another level. JAMB’s roles are to regulate universities, conduct entrance examinations, and accredit courses offered in universities to meet international standards and not to suggest to parents the universities their children go to. It is clearly a function of choice and means.

With this new policy, is JAMB indirectly saying that children of the poor should forget university education if they cannot afford private universities? Meanwhile, this generation of JAMB officials is a product of public universities and some even got scholarship through school. We disagree with JAMB on their new policy, even if well-intentioned, it is wrong headed.
Instead, JAMB should seek to expand facilities in universities, so they can take in more candidates, and leave the decision of where candidates go to, to their parents and the candidates themselves. Patronising private universities is a matter of choice not imposition. This is the standard all over the world and Nigeria cannot be an exception.

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