Following the recent scrapping of the post-UTME screening, Nigerians were last week jolted by reports of the introduction of a new point system option for this year’s admission into Nigerian universities by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), but the board swiftly refuted the claims, saying that it was an illustration made by the Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.
The examination body has now introduced new admission guidelines. The Head of Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin said in a statement that the federal government approved the re-enforcement of admission guideline by law and that all tertiary institutions have consequently been directed to adhere to the guidelines.
“Admission would be based on three pillars: merit, catchment and educationally disadvantaged states.”
Benjamin said the 2016 admission would not require the conduct of another test either written or oral, as candidates would only present their Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE)/Advanced Level results for verification and clearing purposes, adding that WAEC, NECO and NBTE results or their equivalent are acceptable as matriculation requirements.
To parents and students, the directive is a welcome development, as students will not be burdened with another round of test before securing admission, while parents will no longer be required to pay for post-UTME screening.
However, university administrator think it will take the country back to the era of malpractice, where students secured admission with scored they didn’t own.
Explaining the reason behind the introduction of post-UME screening in 2004, the former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, said it was introduced when it was discovered that undergraduates used to act as mercenaries for UME candidates, who then parade high scores they did not work for.
He said a vice-chancellor had approached him in 2002 and complained that a large percentage of his students impersonated UME candidates that year. When consulted, he said other vice-chancellors also confirmed it.
That he said underscored the need to introduce another layer of screening, not multiple choice test that would assess candidates’ spoken and written English.
Okebukola said the vice-chancellors and NUC went to the then president and the national assembly and it was agreed that the post-UME screening should consist of essay to test candidates’ written English, interview to test their oral English and to see how they are, if they are good enough to be admitted into the institution.
“It was also agreed then that no university should charge more than N1,000. We started it in 2004 and I was bold enough to tell President Obasanjo that by 2009, we started getting the dream graduates from our universities. In 2004, we discovered that about 25 per cent of those with high scores in UME did not show up for the post-UME
He regretted that when the set of vice-chancellors that worked with him left, the new ones that came changed things; “they started doing the multiple choice questions again, but that was not the agreement, the agreement was that let JAMB do that. They were not caring at all about essay type, they only wanted to collect money quickly and go so all the things we wanted to tackle; the oral and written English was no more. They were charging as much as they wanted.”
Okebukola, who is the current Chairman, Governing Council of Crawford University, Ogun State, said when the news came that universities should stop post-UTME, he was happy because he felt it would be temporary, “so that we can get it right again, make new ground rules and then move on from there.
“Until we are able to assess how candidates speak English, assess their logical expressions and assess their persons, we will be taking one step forward and several steps backwards.”
The Vice-Chancellor of Edwin Clark University, Prof. Timothy Olagbemiro, said oral interview of any sort would be a useful tool in assessing students for university admission, adding that if JAMB had adopted the point system, it would have been superfluous and discriminatory in status between those who achieve their five credits at one sitting and those who do it in two sittings.
“The point system would have been jacketory, not allowing universities to make other viable options such as oral or simple English test, syntax or written statements by applicants, to ensure they really understand and can write the English Language.”
He added that academic freedom is totally destroyed when JAMB hands down to the entire university system how they should admit their students. “It is just wrong in all ramifications.”
The Vice-Chancellor of Fountain University, Oshogbo, Osun State, Prof. Raji Bashir, said no examination can truly capture the inherent potential of any student; hence factoring previous examinations like WAEC is good. He said many universities will still conduct their own post-UTME screening in whatever name they may give it.
“Some do it for Internally Generated Revenue while many private universities do it to screen out possible miscreants before admission.”
He appealed to JAMB, ministry of education and NUC to allow university senates to decide modalities for admission into each institution, saying that over-regulation would only limit innovation.
The Vice-Chancellor of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, Prof. Dayo Alao, said there is need for JAMB to set an exam which will be used to evaluate the level of every candidate for every university, while expressing concern that the board has over the years been compromised.
“Is it the corruption that President Mohammadu Buhari is fighting? It has extended to the academics where they use fraudulent results to get admission. More recently, we discovered that people always have examination questions in advance. Parents too connive, aid and abet, most people even spend a lot of money to get question papers for their children. Sadly some have become contractors to helping people write exams, so at the end of the day, you are not getting a true evaluation of the performance of the students.
“Because of that lacuna and the gap that has been created, then they now decided to do post-UTME so that when you bring a very brilliant result from JAMB, there is a tendency that there may not be a continuity of that result when you write post-UTME. Some people will get 60 or 70 per cent, while some are getting 20 and other horrible marks, then you quickly discover that something has gone wrong.”
He said there should be a regulated exam JAMB will set with the standard of various universities, which is not too far away from what the board will give as an exam, adding that it is the reason the council of pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors decided that there should be sanity in the system.
“An average student is always an average student, a student who hasscreening because they used mercenaries, they didn’t earned the results.”
Comments
Post a Comment