JAMB reacts to allegations of candidates’ imposition on universities

The Registrar of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, on Friday, denied reports that the board was imposing candidates on universities for admission.

Oloyede, who stated this in Benin, Edo State, during his visit to JAMB’s zonal office, said ”I know many of you are bothered and you want to hear from me about the admission.

“There is no stalemate; after due consultation with the Senate, House of Representatives, because they were worried and invited us, the matter was totally resolved,’’ he said.

He added that education and examination regulatory institutions “like NBTE, NCCE, NUC and JAMB itself, were also dully consulted’’.

“There is no ambiguity on what will happen. As it has been announced by the Minister of Education, there will be no written examination, no written Post-UTME examination by any institution.

“Apart from that, every other thing remains as it used to be, because the authority, autonomy and independence of the academic boards or the Senate of the respective institutions remain sacrosanct.

“They should determine their criteria, following the directives of the Federal Executive Council to all Federal universities about what should be merit, catchment areas, educationally-disadvantaged states and other things.

“Things remain the way they used to be. The only addition this year is, for now, there should be no written Post-UTME examination.

Universities can screen, say Vice Chancellors

The Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) has chided the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu for not consulting widely with stakeholders before banning the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Its Secretary-General, Prof Michael Faborode, said the minister’s pronouncement did not take away a university’s right to select its students as the law empowers its Senate to screen applicants before admission.

Faborode was the guest speaker at the 11th convocation lecture of Covenant University (CU) Ota, Ogun State.  He spoke on: “Benchmarking the quality and relevance of Higher Education for National Development” at the CU chapel last Thursday.

He said: “AVCNU does not feel that we should make a public pronouncement (on the minister’s directive). Remember, when the minister made that, he also said there would be clarification on how the screening would be done.

“But for us, the issue is very clear. Remember, Post-UTME came out of necessity because at the time, the level of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam was seriously questioned. It is true that things have improved to some extent; but I feel it (minister’s decision) should have been more consultative and we would have conducted studies to verify the present situation like we did when we started post-UTME.

“But why we feel there was no need for outcry is that the fundamental right of universities to conduct screening cannot be taken away. The Senate of every university must screen whoever comes into the university and must guarantee the quality of certificate they are awarding. These are fundamental tasks that still remain and have not been threatened.”

Speaking on how universities in Africa can up their ranking globally, Faborode, a former vice-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife (OAU), urged them to collaborate.

“The time has come for African universities to create global academy of commons – a global community of scholars, who although responsive to the local and national needs of our society, nevertheless transcend national polities to practise a ‘science’ that produces collective knowledge for the human community.

“Such a system would allow our universities to develop to imbibe the corpus of scientific knowledge, apply it to our context, re-imagine and innovate it, and contribute it back to the global economy. It will also allow us to produce graduates who are simultaneously African; citizens of both nation and the world.”

Faborode who also lamented that underfunding has been a major factor for stunted growth of universities in Africa, called authorities to up their investment at the tertiary level.

“To bridge the knowledge gap and close the global development, Nigeria especially, must increase the level of their investment in funding higher education, as well as embrace bold initiative for diversified funding by other stakeholders.

“One of such is to mobilise resources from the private financial sector with government collateral support and loans. A necessary corollary is the adequate provision of scholarship and bursaries to brilliant and indigent students to remove inequity. The universities too need to accentuate their internal revenue generation through entrepreneurial and commercial engagement, applied research output, endowment and philanthropy etc.”

Minister of Education orders refund of post-UTME fees to candidates

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu has directed all tertiary institutions that have conducted post-UTME examination to immediately refund money taken
from candidates.

The minister has also declared that post-UTME examinations already taken are null and void; threatening that any institution caught still conducting the examination under any guise would be sanctioned.

The minister made this position known yesterday, in a press statement issued by Deputy Director Press and Public Relations, Ben Bem Goong.

The strong-worded statement reiterated the Ministry’s position that post-UTME examinations have been cancelled with immediate effect and no institution should conduct such examinations.

The minister warned that once the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has certified a candidate worthy of admission into any of the tertiary institutions, that candidate must be deemed fit by the institution.

According to the statement, students who have already been offered admission by JAMB may be screened by the institutions but this must not involve the conduct of any other entry examination. The candidates can be screened by verifying their certificates but not through the conduct of examinations.

The minister stated that it is unnecessary to subject students to further examinations when they have been offered examinations by JAMB since they will still have to go through between eight or 12-semester examinations throughout their four to six years study in the institutions.

The minister, therefore, directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) and appropriate departments in the Ministry to communicate the directive to relevant agencies and institutions to ensure strict compliance.

“Those who have already advertised for the conduct of the Post-UTME under any guise should stop the exercise immediately as any university caught conducting Post-UTMNE will face appropriate sanctions. If any tertiary Institution has already conducted Post-UTME, such an exercise stands annulled and money taken from such candidates must be refunded immediately”, the Minister said.

The directive to stop the post-UTME examinations was given by the minister nearly a month ago.

The minister said through the statement that it was important to emphasise the directive in order to ensure that no stakeholder is left in doubt as to government’s position on the matter.

He affirmed that the responsibility for admission into public tertiary institutions lies solely with JAMB and under no circumstance whatsoever, should anybody or institution take over that responsibility by proxy.

“The ban is with immediate effect, and under no circumstance should any institution violate the directive”.
“Any educational institution after secondary education is regarded as a tertiary institution.

Therefore all tertiary institutions, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, Universities or by whatever name it is called after secondary education must be subjected to admission through the JAMB.

At the end of probationary admission by JAMB, the candidates can be cleared (screened) for final admission. For any institution with a shortfall in admission, such institution can revert to JAMB for supplementary admission”.

“Clearing in this case (screening) entails only the verification of certificates of the candidates, JAMB scores, and any other physical examination to ensure that such candidates are not cultists. After this, the candidates are qualified for matriculation.

Such screening should be at no cost to the parents or students and should be done upon resumption in order to avoid unnecessary travels in search of admission”, the minister said,
For secondary school leavers who are seeking admission into the tertiary institutions, Malam Adamu said that subjecting them to too many examinations all in one year, is traumatic, exploitative and absolutely unnecessary.

This is besides the cost of travelling, hotel accommodation and examination fees that parents have to incur in their bid to secure admission for their wards.

Post UTME 2016 ; OAU Wont Conduct Post UTME

This statement which is purported to have emanated from the Public Relations Officer of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-ife (OAU), Olanrewaju Abiodun has is that the institution in line with the Federal government’s directive will not be conducting Post-UTME for candidates seeking admission into the institution this year.

According to the statement credited to the PRO,”OAU is owned by the federal government, so we will not conduct our own Post UTME since we have been directed not to do so”
However, how the institution intends to run the admission process for this year was not disclosed.

I will advise you don’t abandon your books yet to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Federal Polytechnic Ilaro 2016/2017 HND Full-Time Programme Admission Form Released

Qualified Applicants are invited from suitably qualified candidates for admission into the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro for Full-Time Programmes leading to the award of Higher National Diploma (HND) qualification for programmes in the following schools:

1 SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES: Departments: Accountancy, Banking and Finance, Business Administration & Management and Marketing.

2 SCHOOL OF APPLIED SCIENCE:

Departments: Computer Science, Food Technology, Hospitality Management (Hotel and Catering Management), Office Technology and Management (Secretarial Studies), Science Laboratory Technology with options in: Chemistry, Physics with electronics and Microbiology and Statistics.

3 SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING:

Departments: Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering with options in: Electrical Power and Machines, Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering and Instrumentation, Mechanical Engineering with option in: Plant and Power Engineering Technology, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology.

4 SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: Departments:

Architectural Technology, Building Technology, Estate Management and Valuation, Quantity Surveying, Surveying and Geo-informatics and Urban and Regional Planning.
Duration of all programmes: 4 Semesters (Full Time).

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Applicants seeking HND (Full Time) Admission must possess:

(i) A good National Diploma not below Lower Credit (with CGPA not less than 2.50) and basic requirements for the National Diploma Programme in the discipline.

(ii) A minimum of One Calendar year Post National Diploma relevant Industrial Experience.

(iii) Academic Transcripts which should be sent (directly) by the student’s last Institution under confidential cover to: The Registrar, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro.

NO CANDIDATE WILL BE REGISTERED BEFORE THE RECEIPT OF THE ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT.

(iv) A good performance in the screening exercise to be conducted by the Polytechnic.

(v) Provision of JAMB Admission Letter.

(vi) Possession of the specific SSC requirements i.e WAEC/NECO/NABTEB/GCE O’level for the course for which the candidate is applying.

(vii) All candidates are expected to consult the institution’s prospectus on the portal or in hard copy to ascertain their qualification for courses for which they are applying.

Candidates should not register for courses for which they do not have the requirements.

The admission of the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro is provisional; ANYTIME it is discovered that a candidate registered for a programme for which he is not qualified; the admission would be withdrawn.

N.B. No fee paid to the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro is refundable.

METHOD OF APPLICATION

Candidates seeking admission into the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro are required to complete the Institution’s Application Form available online at:
www.federalpolyilaro.edu.ng with effect from 31st May, 2016.

Candidates seeking admission for HND (Full Time) are expected to generate an Application Form Invoice by filling in their details online on the Institution’s website:
www.federalpolyilaro.edu.ng .

With the application invoice, applicants should obtain a CONFIRMATION ORDER NUMBER from any branch of the under-listed banks upon the payment of the sum of Twelve Thousand Eight Hundred Naira (N12, 800.00) only including bank charges and all services (result checking etc.).

Please note that the

CONFIRMATION ORDER NUMBER must be obtained in the name of the applicant.

The authorized banks are:
(a) Union Bank
Plc
(b) WEMA Bank Plc
(c) United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc
(d) Access Bank Plc
(e) Zenith Bank Plc.
(f) Ilaro Poly Microfinance Bank
(g) Skye Bank Plc.

SCREENING EXERCISE

Screening exercise for HND (Full-Time) Programmes would hold on August 18, 2016 at 10.00 a.m prompt. Venue of the screening exercise is the Polytechnic, West Campus.

General Information

* The closing date for the submission of Online Application Form is August 12, 2016.

* For further information and updates, visit the Institution’s Portal via www.federalpolyilaro.edu.ng

* Direct enquiries to admissions@federalpolyilaro.edu.ng.

UNIPORT Post UTME Form, Cut-off and Registration Date – 2016/17 Is Out

Information reaching us has it that The University of Port Harcourt, Uniport Post UTME Registration 2015/2016 is out.

The school management is therefore inviting all interested and eligible candidates who made the University of Port Harcourt as their first choice in the 2015 Unified Tertiary matriculation Examination (UTME) and who had a minimum score of 180 and above in the JAMB Examination to the 2015/2016 Post-UTME Screening Exercise.

Note: Applicants who chose Dentistry as their programme of study are hereby informed that they could be admitted into other/related areas of study, subject to acceptable performance.

Alternatively, affected candidates should contact other Universities for the admission into Dentistry and contact the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for further directives.

Scrapping of post-UTME: Universities to screen candidates on oral, essay before admission

Former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Peter Okebukola, has said that Nigerian universities deviated from the initial agreement NUC had with Vice-Chancellors in 2004 when it introduced post-UTME to screen candidates on oral interview and written essay.

He also said out the present position as revealed to him by the Vice-Chancellors, after their meeting with Malam Adamu Adamu last Thursday, was that the Minister had directed that universities should no longer conduct the same type of test as JAMB, but should be free to further subject candidates to screening to meet their local peculiarities.

Okebukola, who spoke xclsively with Vanguard, lamented that universities had since deviated from the initial agreement of post-UTME disclosed that the 2004 model had a screening component which was agreed with all vice-chancellors to be through oral interview and essay which JAMB assessment did not cover.

The former NUC Scribe expressed joy in the scrapping of post-UTME, adding that it now took the universities system back to the original model of post-UME which NUC initiated in 2004 while he served as Executive Secretary.
While expatiating on reasons for the introduction of post-UTME in 2014, he explained that the NUC and the vice-chancellors discovered that more than ever before, they needed to admit into the universities, secondary school leavers, from the large pool, including those who have at least two characteristics.

The first characteristic, he noted, was to ensure that admission seekers attained minimum cognitive competence in the relevant subjects in the discipline they wished to study; and second to test their competence in written and oral English, critical thinking and ability to present ideas in logical sequence befitting of undergraduates in Africa’s most-expansive and well-regarded university system.

‘’JAMB’s UTME targets only the first characteristic; while the university-level screening should measure the second,’’ he said.