Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - FG Scraps Post UTME, Pegs Cut-off Point At 180

Post UME when it started had a lot of credibility, but like many things in Nigeria it also fell into the corruption trap.  I think there is need to strengthen JAMB and get Universities to partner with Jamb in handling of the JAMB Exam and give it more credibility than it has enjoyed before now, in addition to  abolishing  so called  private centres where a lot of malpractices take place. In addition you may be surprised  to find out that candidates with the low scores of 180 to 200 perform better  than many with high scores of 280 and above. The first post UME exam we held at Unizik under the Prof Ilochi Okafor  administration proved that. At the time the University allowed only those that scored 200 and above to take the exam, at the end, many of them failed, and the University had to organize a second exam for those that Scored 180 to 199. Lo and behold, it was from this class of candidates that many successful candidates emerged. This experience is a pointer to the fact that the candidates with lower scores were the ones that relied on themselves  rather than mercenaries to do the exam.

My take on is that given the economic situation in Nigeria we should probably strengthen Jamb or scrap JAMB completely and allow each University to conduct  its own exam. Multiple charges and stress because of one entrance exam may be creating holes in the pockets of many poor parents.

Nkolika 

Awka

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From: Segun Ogungbemi <seguno2013@gmail.com>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 2, 2016 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - FG Scraps Post UTME, Pegs Cut-off Point At 180

What does the screening entail? It has to be spelt out,  if not, the federal government cancellation of post UTME has no meaning. Post UTME is a form of screening. Its merit makes it possible to ascertain the credibility of students' UTME scores. We are dealing with a situation where students cheat or impersonaring the exams. 

Each University should be allowed to examine their candidates and admit those who meet their standard. 

I think the federal government is being nosy in this matter. 

Prof. Segun Ogungbemi. 

Sent from my iPhone 

On Jun 2, 2016, at 5:05 PM, Kola Fabiyi <fabiyi@live.com> wrote:

FG Scraps Post UTME, Pegs Cut-off Point At 180

Leadership NG / 2016-06-02 16:47

The federal government yesterday announced the cancellation of the post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) into the nation's institutions of higher learning.
Post UTME is usually conducted by universities for candidates after they have passed the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations.
Making the pronouncement yesterday in Abuja to declare open the 2016 combined policy meeting on admission to universities, polytechnics and other higher institutions in Nigeria, the Minister of Education ,  Malam Adamu Adamu, said the federal government has confidence in the examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, adding that there is no need for other examinations to be conducted by universities after JAMB exams.

He said, "As far as I am concerned, the nation has confidence in what JAMB is doing. The universities should not be holding another examination and if the universities have any complain against JAMB, let them bring it and then we address it."

Adamu maintained that since JAMB is qualified enough to conduct tests, there's no need for tertiary institutions to conduct test again for students to gain admission.

The minister also asked the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board to stop extra charges on several categories of changes on admissions such as the change of course, change of school and others.

Meanwhile, delegates from different higher institutions across the country who converged on Abuja yesterday at the Combined Policy meeting, rounded off their debate over the cut off marks for Year 2016 Admissions into the tertiary institutions, with a cut-off point at 180.

However, the delegates maintained that the schools should not rule out screening  of candidates ,that  screening of is still  vital to gaining entrance into the universities.

They argued that in the quest for knowledge, educational standard should not be lowered in the country.

Speaking with journalists, the JAMB Registrar, Prof 'Dibu Ojerinde, said,  "180 is given and no institution will go below 180 this year, And some universities can go above it, I know Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife will not go below 200 and University of Lagos will not go below 200 and also University of Ibadan. All these ones stand. But 180 is  a bench mark for others."

He said this year, the examination board  have more than enough candidates with over 1.5 million  candidate, saying, "So we will get enough candidates to take in all the schools if they are serious"

The JAMB registrar said re- distribution is already ongoing because it is embedded in the registration procedure.

He reiterated the minister of Education's pronouncement saying, "for post UTME ,no more writing of post UTME anymore but institutions will screen their candidates.

However, touts protested at the venue of the 2016 Combined Policy meeting on Thursday.
They carried placards with various inscriptions, some of which called on the federal government, National Assembly and other major stakeholders to put an end to the conduct of the post UTME exams.

Some also called on the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC to probe university administrators on the utilisation of the post UTME.

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Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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