JAMB boss defends 120 cut off mark, says he’s proud of it
The Executive Secretary of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, on Thursday in Abuja dismissed the deluge of criticism that has been trailing the recent decision by policy makers and stakeholders in the tertiary institutions to fix the cut off mark for admissions into the universities to 120, saying rather than being deterred, he remained proud and will not lower standards as being insinuated.
Professor Oloyede who was delivering a welcome address during an intensive training and sensitization forum on the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS), for admission officers for the 2017/2018 academic session, said the introduction of CAPS will not only promote transparency, remove underhand dealings but smoothen the entire admission process into varsities.
The JAMB boss further disclosed that the country’s admission system is similar to what obtains in 6 countries including Spain, Turkey, Republic of Georgia, Iran and China, maintaining that subjecting the cut-off mark issue to public debate is part of a global exercise.
He said’’ institutions determine their cut-off marks and other admission criteria in exercise of their autonomy, JAMB is a ranking body and not an examination body like NECO, WAEC and so on, and we only ensure compliance and do not award certificates.’’
He further explained that part of the innovations in the CAPS is that candidates are not given what they did not apply for without being consulted first.
He said ’’once you are not given what you did not apply for, you will be consulted through your contacts including emails, and if you reject an offer, you will be placed in the market place to ensure we have the correct narration.”
Recall that the meeting of policy makers on admission into tertiary institutions had during a meeting fixed various cut marks that will serve as threshold for admissions. For universities candidates were expected to score a minimum of 120, while 100 mark is for candidates who applied to study in Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and monotechnics.
