The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has cancelled national admission benchmark, otherwise called cut-off mark.With the scrapping of the age-long method, each of the nation’s tertiary institutions is now authorised to peg its admission benchmark.
The decision was taken at the 2021 policy meeting which was held virtually, Tuesday, and presided over by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu.
As reported by vanguard, during the meeting, the Registrar of JAMB Prof. Is-haq Oloyede said some universities such as University of Maiduguri proposed 150, Usman Dan Fodio University Sokoto proposed 140, Pan Atlantic University proposed 210, University of Lagos 200, Lagos State University190, Covenant University190, Bayero University Kano, 180.
On the deadline for the closure of admissions, the stakeholders resolved to allow the ministry to decide as they could not agree on the December 31, 2021 deadline for all public institutions and January 31st 2022 for all public institutions.
Stakeholders also adopted the 2021 admission guidelines, which provide that all applications for part time or full time programmes fo degree, NCE, OND, and others must be posted only through JAMB.
He said if candidates have not accepted an offer, the institution can change the candidate after informing JAMB.The meeting also resolved that every institution should maintain its own minimum score as approved by the policy meeting.
According to the stakeholders, the 2021 admissions will be conducted only through CAPS, no institution is allowed to admit candidates without uploading their details on CAPS.
Oloyede further disclosed that for 2021/2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, the board is introducing two new subjects: computer studies and physical and health education, bringing to a total of 25 subjects.The stakeholders also exempted prison inmates, visually impaired and foreign candidates from sitting for post UTME exercise.While saying there are many admission spaces that have not been filled up in several courses due to lack of qualified candidates, Oloyede said private universities in the country were only able to admit 36,381 candidates out of the 120,938 spaces available to them.
“It is gratifying that the WAEC has decided to follow the path of using NIN to curb examination malpractices. The Ministry is presently considering other ways of using using the NIN uncover some other admissio irregularities and all perpetrators including their collaborators in the institutions would be made to face the consequences.
” The consequence of admissions conducted outside of CAPS is grievous. It subjects the candidates to gloom future as nemesis of illegal admission awaits them at the completion of study when it will be impossible to take full advantage of the acquired certificates.