Senate moves to scrap Post JAMB exams in Universities

Olufemi Samuel, Abuja

The Senate on Tuesday set machinery in motion for proscribing the post Unified Matriculation Examination (UMTE), thus lending credence to sustained argument that the UMTE has outlived its usefulness.

Against this backdrop, the Senate mandated its Committees on Tertiary Education to liaise with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and relevant stakeholders to come up with terms on how to scrap the post JAMB purpose exams.

The Senate took this step after adopting a motion by Senator Umaru l. Kurfi, APC, Katsina Central on necessity for revisiting the regulatory conflict between Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Universities on admission in Nigeria.

The need to scrap the post UME in tertiary institutions, the Senate reasoned became necessary since the post JAMB exams conducted by universities have not successfully addressed militating against quality of students being offered admissions into the schools through JAMB.

Senators who spoke on the motion insisted that the post UMT exams have continued to pose more challenges for the Nigerian educational system.

Against this background, the Senate called for the development of a strategy that would ensure the efficiency and integrity in the conduct of JAMB examination.

Leading debate on his motion, Senator Umaru l. Kurfi said, “The Senate: Notes that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was established in 1976 and saddled with the responsibility of streamlining and co-ordinating admission practice as well as determining who is admitted into universities and other tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria;

“Further notes that the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) is the umbrella organization which oversees the administration of University education in Nigeria, and prior to 2005 , the truly criteria needed for candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions was for such candidate to have minimum admission requirement and possess a certain score at his or her JAMB examination.

“Aware that the laudable objectives of JAMB began to suffer progressive denudation shortly after its inception as some universities admitted students outside the list sent by JAMB and rejecting candidates with admission letters from JAMB on the ground that they had to comply with their own internal quota and catchment calculation, coupled with the issue of malpractices that plagued JAMB examinations.

“Further aware as scores of successful JAMB candidates turned out ill equipped for university education, the Federal Government, in 2005, under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo , introduced the policy of Post-UME screening by universities which made it compulsory for tertiary institutions to screen candidates after JAMB results and before offering admission;

“Worried that while this new development was aimed at addressing the problem of student quality, it reintroduced and entrenched many of the problems it sought to eliminate through JAMB;

“Cognizance that while the executives introduced the Post-UME policy as a remedy to the decay in educational standard in higher institutions of learning, there have been public outcry of extortion from candidates despite the rigorous test they pass through at JAMB;

“Disturbed that as the integrity of the post-UME examination is open to question as the pecuniary motive of the respective institutions comes so visibly to the fore that there is little pretense about maximizing the income flows through these internal examinations;

“Regrets that the introduction of the post–UME examination has to a large extent failed to remedy the problems associated with the JAMB and as such, its continued existence has posed more challenges for the Nigeria educational system,” he concluded.