Post-UTME Ban: FG To Sanction Erring Universities, Polytechnics

The Federal Government has cautioned Nigerian tertiary institutions against flouting its directive banning the conduct of Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).

WAEC-explains-why-it-wont-adopt-CBT-now

Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, who handed down the warning in Abuja on Monday, said the ministry would not hesitate to “wield the big stick” on any erring tertiary institution in the country as Post-UTME has outlived its relevance.

Adamu’s threat came on the heels of allegations that some universities were still secretly conducting Post-UTME.

The Federal Ministry of Education learnt of the development through advertisements which appeared in some national dailies, urging candidates to submit themselves for the Post-UTME exercise in their institutions.

He directed that any tertiary institution which has already conducted Post-UTME should refund such candidates their money as such exercise stands annulled.

The Federal Government had on June 2, 2016 scrapped post-UTME as a pre-condition to gaining admission into universities in the country.

The decision was a fall-out of the 2016 Combined Policy Meeting on Admissions to Universities and other Tertiary Institutions organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), where stakeholders also agreed on 180 as general benchmark for admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.?

Adamu has also directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) and appropriate departments in the ministry to communicate the directive and ensure strict compliance by relevant institutions.

“The ban is with immediate effect and under no circumstance should any institution violate the directive.

“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-UTME will face appropriate sanctions,” the minister warned.

He argued 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.

“For the avoidance of doubt, 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 JAMB.

“At the end of probationary admission by JAMB, the candidates can be cleared (screened) for final admission. 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”.

He decried the situation where final year students in secondary schools are subjected to too many examinations all in one year, describing it as traumatic, exploitative and absolutely unnecessary.

According to Adamu, mere admission into the university does not guarantee any student the award of a degree until such a student successfully goes through a minimum of eight examinations (for 4-year courses) or ten and twelve examinations (for 5-and 6-year courses), among other requirements.

Source: Independentnig

1 COMMENT