The Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB), said that it was set to re-distribute candidates
with cut-off marks less than what their first choice of universities required
to needy institutions .
This is contained in a
statement signed by the Head, Media and Publicity of the board, Dr Fabian
Benjamin, and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Lagos.
It said that the recent
admission policy witnessed at the University of Lagos was aimed at ensuring
that Nigerian universities admit only the top-best as was done globally.
It would be recalled that
candidates and their parents had on Wednesday, July 22, staged a peaceful
protest at the University of Lagos gate over the high cut-off marks for
2015/2016 post-UTME screening.
“Sequel to this development,
the board has redistributed the other candidates with cut-off marks less than
what their first choice required to needy institutions.
“The board, equally, urges
candidates and their parents to check its website from Friday, July 31, 2015
for their names and institutions they are placed in,’’ the statement said.
According to the statement,
universities are centres of excellence anywhere in the world and that of
Nigeria should not be an exception.
It said that JAMB was working
round the clock to ensure that Nigerian universities were among the best in
Africa and perhaps the world in the next ranking.
The statement explained that
the board was also cautious about utilizing the available spaces in admitting
more candidates bearing in mind the admission criteria of various needy
institutions.
“The Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reiterated that the national cut-off marks of
180 for universities.
“We also have 150 for
Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Innovative Enterprise institutions in
the 2015 UTME as a bench mark to set the tone for 2015 admission exercise.
“The decision to have a
national accepted cut-off mark at the policy meeting was to serve as a guide
and pruning mechanism.
“It will also give the
tertiary institutions qualitative and manageable candidates to choose from a
pool of candidates desirous of tertiary education.
“However, universities and
other levels of tertiary institutions are at liberty to go higher, but not
lower, depending on their peculiarities and the performance of candidates that
choose them,’’ it explained.
The statement added that the
board wished to state that no candidate would be denied any right to aspire to
tertiary education.
According to the statement,
the board is equally aware that some universities have their own admission
cut-off marks acceptable by the board for the various courses they offered.
“Please be informed that the
board will always ensure that these institutions apply this cut-off marks
uniformly across all candidates without discrimination.
“The decision of the board on
the print-out for this year exercise was done in good faith and not to
jeopardize the right of candidates due to individual cut-off set by some
Nigerian tertiary institutions.
“ Those candidates who do not
meet the cut-off marks of such institutions will be placed in needy
institutions within their geo-political zone depending on available spaces in
such institutions.
“The board’s aim is to
accommodate as many candidates as possible instead of just pushing them to
schools we know abinitio does not have the carrying capacity to admit all,’’
the statement said
The statement wondered that if
UNILAG; with a carrying capacity of about 9,000 candidates has over 60,000
applying to it , what happens to the over 50,000 others?
It said that in such occasion,
the board would ensure that there was balance by ensuring that those remaining
candidates who were not too fortunate to meet the cut-off marks were also
placed in other needy institutions.
According to the statement,
candidates are to note that the policy is only meant to ensure that every
candidate with a reasonable score of 180 and above is placed somewhere.
It added that Nigerians were
also urged to believe in the board as it continually strives to give the entire
education system the best.
“ We are not comfortable with
the large number of candidates that sits for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation
Examination (UTME), year in year out without gaining admission.
“ It is the belief of the
board that this policy will address the shortfall and accommodate more,” the
statement said.
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