Don’t force courses on your children, JAMB boss tells parents

The Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede, has advised parents and guardians to avoid mounting undue pressure on their children in the choice of course for study when applying for admission into tertiary institutions as well as to avoid cutting corners but go through the normal process when purchasing the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) forms for their children and wards.

The JAMB boss gave the advice while speaking at a one day critical stakeholders meeting on Plans and Modalities for the sale and registration of 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) application form and seamless admission into tertiary
institutions at Remo Divisional High School, Sagamu, Ogun States.

According to the JAMB Registrar, most candidates failed to secure admission into higher institutions not as a result of poor performance in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test, but improper filling of their application forms and wrong choice of course of study that did not match the subjects such candidates sat for.

He said, “Apart from parents pressure on candidates choice of course, it has also been observed that most of them failed to gain admission into the institutions of their choice as a result of improper filling of the forms and wrong subjects combination.”

Other factors as listed by Oloyede include the use of special centres, engagement of proxy to purchase forms and last minutes preparations by candidates.

Commending the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Modupe Mujota for being the first State Commissioner of Education to introduce the workshop, Oloyede urged participants at the event, which included stakeholders in the education industry to take full advantage of it and take the message back to their communities.

Earlier in her welcome address, Mrs. Modupe Mujota said the purpose of the seminar was to brainstorm, explore and incorporate nexus of ideas in order to address sharp practices in registration, conduct of UTME and assisting candidates in selecting appropriate subjects for proposed discipline in tertiary institutions of first choice.

She therefore urged participants to critically examine the overall concept of admission process into various higher institutions in the country and proffer possible solutions to the challenges at hand.

Also speaking, State Chief Technical on UTME, Prof Adesina Sodiya, who gave a brief overview of admission process, urged candidates to be conversant in the use of computer system. The workshop, which was held in the three Senatorial District of the state, drew participants from principal of both public and private schools, proprietors of private schools, students and parents amongst others.