The Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede says 557,626 candidates from 1.8 million applications have so far been admitted into tertiary institutions across the country in its 2022 admission processes.
Prof. Oloyede said this at the 2023 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions in Abuja Saturday.
The Registrar added that the 2022 admission process was still ongoing due to opportunities given to some key players in the sector to conduct admissions.
Prof oloyede who discredited notions from the public domain that admissions were given by JAMB, said admission depended on the availability of candidates, and five O’ level requirements as UTME was only meant for admission ranking.
” As of June 19, tertiary institutions have admitted 557,626 candidates but as we speak today, the admission is up to 600,000 as we target about 700,000. This is because admission is still ongoing.
”We hear about cut-off marks by JAMB but the truth is that not the best candidate who scored the highest mark in UTME is the best candidate.
”Admission is based on the five O’ level results that a candidate possesses because we only make use of UTME for admission ranking. JAMB has not initiated admissions since 2016,” he said.
Gaps In Admission
Speaking on gaps in admission vacancies and why candidates were not admitted, Oloyede said rigidity of programme choice and mismatch of demand and supply were responsible.
He also listed a lack of interest in existing vacancies and trial candidates (No O’ level results or awaiting results) as responsible for admission gaps in the tertiary institutions.
According to him, “the onus lied with institutions to determine the National Minimum Tolerable UTME score, often called the ‘Cut-off marks'”
The Permanent Secretary of, the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, challenged stakeholders to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in the admission processes which determined the fate of millions of students.
Adejo called on admission stakeholders to ensure credibility in the process so that no candidate would be denied admission, as well as no deserving candidate, was given admission.
” The Federal Ministry of Education has resolved that the fundamental principle of the ministry is openness and this has been provided by JAMB through inclusiveness in the UTME.
” JAMB must ensure sanity and integrity of exams and admission must be based on agreed guidelines to deepen accountability, transparency and fairness.
” Criteria for admissions remained critical by JAMB and all institutions must abide by them as we need to stick to the approved quota for admission,” he said.
Goodwill Messages
In a goodwill message, the Executive Secretary, of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed commended the board on its role in ensuring sanity in the education sector.
Rasheed, represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the commission, Chris Maiyaki pledged the commission’s commitment to JAMB to fulfill its mandate.
He said that the policy meeting was a game-changer moment for tertiary institutions to take the leading role in the education sector.
In the same vein, the Chairman, of JAMB Equal Opportunity Group, Prof. Peter Okebukola commended JAMB and lauded the board for the interest in the education of the visually impaired and other physically challenged candidates.
Okebukola said in the last several years, the board had processed admissions of 2,700 candidates who were visually impaired, those in the correctional centres and the Down syndrome candidates.
He added that the Nigerian higher education system was the ‘move and shaker’ of the African higher education sector, hence the need to get things right especially in the area of admission processes.
Dominica Nwabufo
