Sanitising university admissions

By Hamidu Danbarewa

Th e radical reforms sweeping clouds of dust from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have once again expunged more debris of failed and foiled policies concealed under the carpet of complacence and corruption in the past.

In its initial ripples, the revision-for-reform agenda of the Prof. Ishaq Oloyede-led management of the Board caused a stir in the conduct of the annual UTME examination exercise, dramatically throwing out all manner of entrenched fl aws and dubious practices behind the problematic perception of JAMB’s functions.

These anomalies had defi ed solution and became another disheartening addition to “Nigerian Factor” plaguing our education sector.

In the latest dose of disinfecting policy review, JAMB has boldly redefi ned the concept and criteria applicable to the admissions process into universities and other tertiary institutions in Nigeria that had been bogged down by endemic failure to earn public confi dence and meet set policy objectives, resulting in distrust of certifi cation credentials and frustration of thousands of hapless students.

Th ese snags snowballed annually in the queer absence of remedies or redress from previous JAMB management into a racket of serial policy abuses perpetrated with impunity.

Th e minimum cut off marks for admissions into universities in Nigeria was this year set at 120, polytechnics and colleges of education pegged at 100, while that of innovative enterprising institutes was pegged at 110.

The outrageous uproar that greeted these cut-off marks was, however, nothing but the pretentious protestations of those who were in the thick of manipulated admissions processing in the many institutions involved as well as their fellow travelers jolted by sudden change in circumstances and loss of vested interests in the workings of a wrong- headed policy.

By the time the strategic import of the new cut-off marks were unraveled by the reformist JAMB management, the orchestrated opposition from some academics, university administrators, parents, civic right groups, and students evaporated into silent embarrassment in the face of the damning verdict of culpability and hypocrisy.

What followed was an astonishing exposure of the acts of omission and commission committed by the “academic” administrators of the universities and other tertiary institutions to exploit rather than expiate the flawed admission policies and processes.

Contrary to the spirited defense of the high cut-off mark policy as a value addition to the purported quality assurance focus for admissions into universities prescribed routinely in years past, JAMB’s new broom swept out disturbingly dubious debris under the carpet laid out to hoodwink Nigerians whereas illegal admissions and other malpractices infested the admission process.

In fact, JAMB established that as many as 17,160 students were admitted without JAMB clearance because “the cut-off marks previously brandished to the public were never strictly followed by most institutions.

Some were going behind to admit candidates with far less scores, while others admitted candidates who never sat for the Unifi ed Tertiary Matriculation Examination”.

Unbelievable? You better believe it as the new JAMB’s dividend of transparency, beaming the spotlight on what the old JAMB and its collaborating university administrators deliberately covered up all these years in order to perpetuate their callous racketeering, which must have yielded lots of loot.

Th e initial brouhaha was corruption fi ghting back! The ruse of high cut-off marks also manifested menacingly in the narrowing of the window of admission opportunities, when the explosion in the population of students seeking university admission in Nigeria outstripped available capacity, calling for expanded access.

Th is resulted in the fl ight of many Nigerians to third rate “universities” in neighbouring countries with attendant increased pressure on the naira to pay school fees in foreign currencies.

Th e lowered cut off marks of 120 responsively redresses the anomalous inequities of the admission process by broadening the range of admissible scores with fl exible cut-off marks, in keeping with JAMB Registrar Professor Ishaq Oloyede’s acclaimed endorsement of world-wide “agitation for dynamic educational policy.

” Also, there is no depreciation in the standard of education since the institutions are at liberty to raise their cut-off marks for admission above the minimum set by JAMB not exceeding the upper limit of 180.

Another salient issue is that the cut-off marks alone do not guarantee admission because they are not the sole determinants of qualifi cation but make candidates eligible for admission consideration along with other equally decisive factors including post-UTME where applicable and O’ level results by institutions in exercise of their autonomy.

It has also now been clearly understood that lowering cut-off marks to 120 was a well thought initiative articulated and adopted after combined policy meetings on admissions into tertiary institutions in Nigeria held in Abuja and attended by vice chancellors, rectors, provosts of higher institutions and other important stakeholders, under the auspices of JAMB, rather than the “unilateral imposition” alleged by the compromised critics.

Professor Oloyede has since assured that JAMB is coming up with Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) to streamline admission processes among institutions as it addresses challenges associated with the old order, emphasising that “JAMB is a screening body to rank already qualifi ed candidates.

It is a coordinating and clearing house.

” Indeed, the wind of change breezing through today’s JAMB has cleared out the hidden debris under the cut-off mark carpet as it storms the decadent admissions and matriculations policy sector with unprecedented good thinking and courageous reform initiatives.

Danbarewa writes from Kaduna

 

 

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