Senate probes conduct of post-UME exams

The Senate has ordered a probe into the legality of the post University Matriculation Examination (UME) tests being conducted by universities, before admitting students who have already written the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.

Following a motion by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Senate mandated its committee on education to investigate the activities of universities on the issue of the conduct of post-UME tests.

In the motion, Lokpobiri said universities have breached the law setting up JAMB, which gives the body the sole responsibility of conducting examinations for admissions into tertiary institutions in the country, by subjecting applicants to the post-UME examination.

According to him: “The various universities charge fees and subject candidates to series of tests and interviews which most often take several days to conclude. This is at grave cost to parents and guardians and a clear violation of the JAMB Act. Our young children are also subjected to avoidable inconveniences and risks.”

Do you support this notion? air your view.

http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/senate-probes-conduct-post-ume-exams

Support dis move? No i dont,i dont,i dont!! Jamb(UTME) exams are severely flawed as many candidates are not even able to defend their scores. Impersonation is rife n malpractice is quite synonymous to d exams but of course,dis no news. The post-utme is an avenue for individual institutions to have a closer scrutiny(which tho izn devoid of malpractice) of prospective students. As is observed yearly,the margin of difference observed in d results of students who supposedly did well in utme exams n their rather poor post-utme outing is a glaring! The senate shld channel their energies in more fruitful n benefitting pursuits. A review of d graduation grades obtainable at different grade points(gp) would be a firm starting point. If we must produce graduates,then they shld thoroughly be worth their weight in gold!

kool J:

Support dis move? No i dont,i dont,i dont!! Jamb(UTME) exams are severely flawed as many candidates are not even able to defend their scores. Impersonation is rife n malpractice is quite synonymous to d exams but of course,dis no news. The post-utme is an avenue for individual institutions to have a closer scrutiny(which tho izn devoid of malpractice) of prospective students. As is observed yearly,the margin of difference observed in d results of students who supposedly did well in utme exams n their rather poor post-utme outing is a glaring! The senate shld channel their energies in more fruitful n benefitting pursuits. A review of d graduation grades obtainable at different grade points(gp) would be a firm starting point. If we must produce graduates,then they shld thoroughly be worth their weight in gold!

Your view is quite encouraging.

It should not be abolished until jamb becomes more coordinated. As long as there is still room for runs in jamb, post ume should stand. Every university wants to admit the best students that can make them proud and with the rate at which answers fly around in jamb, they cannot. if they say the cost is disturbing, they should reduce it and parents should know that its not the university's fault but jamb. I feel that if jamb adopts a computer written exam, then they can abolish post ume

The senate are nothing but visionles and rudderless.
Balderdash.

I see! So the Post utme is the cause of problems disturbing Nigeria? The Senate had better find something reasonable to advocate than discussing frivolous issues.

post utme should be abolish cos the student ar forced to cough out a lot of money buying post utme forms and scratch card frm universities to polytechnics to even colleges of education. Lets do some mathematics here.forms ranges frm 3,500 to 4,000 in universities after that u are might to buy scratch card of 1500 for result checking for universites u av to do dat for both first and secnd choice.the same thing apply to poly and college of educatn. And secondly admision is no longer on merit,u have to sort lecturers with fee ranging frm 80,000 to 150,000 b4 u ar admited.look at their merit list they are not more than 20 candidate admited in each department but the rest has to come in through d back door

mikeoh:

post utme should be abolish cos the student ar forced to cough out a lot of money buying post utme forms and scratch card frm universities to polytechnics to even colleges of education. Lets do some mathematics here.forms ranges frm 3,500 to 4,000 in universities after that u are might to buy scratch card of 1500 for result checking for universites u av to do dat for both first and secnd choice.the same thing apply to poly and college of educatn. And secondly admision is no longer on merit,u have to sort lecturers with fee ranging frm 80,000 to 150,000 b4 u ar admited.look at their merit list they are not more than 20 candidate admited in each department but the rest has to come in through d back door

oh really?! So why dont we share certificates since u getting one(workin for it) is rather expensive? If u want somfin gud and aint yet ready to spend money for it,den u berra desist from wantin it! Lyk d saying goes. . . 'if education is expensive,why not try ignorance'

mikeoh:

post utme should be abolish cos the student ar forced to cough out a lot of money buying post utme forms and scratch card frm universities to polytechnics to even colleges of education. Lets do some mathematics here.forms ranges frm 3,500 to 4,000 in universities after that u are might to buy scratch card of 1500 for result checking for universites u av to do dat for both first and secnd choice.the same thing apply to poly and college of educatn. And secondly admision is no longer on merit,u have to sort lecturers with fee ranging frm 80,000 to 150,000 b4 u ar admited.look at their merit list they are not more than 20 candidate admited in each department but the rest has to come in through d back door

honestly, i don't support you especially with your last few statements.

NA

DEM

SABI

I don't support them cuz it's the easiest way to get admitted into the university.

I dnt agree wit d senate at all.They shld let post utme be coz dts the easiest and fairest way of gaining admission in2 d Nigerian universities otherwise u wil sil a daft dt scored 300 in jamb and at d same the same time scoring 30 in post utme. Post utme has come to stay.

Nancydearie:

I dnt agree wit d senate at all.They shld let post utme be coz dts the easiest and fairest way of gaining admission in2 d Nigerian universities otherwise u wil sil a daft dt scored 300 in jamb and at d same the same time scoring 30 in post utme. Post utme has come to stay.

POST UME IS ANYTHING BUT FAIR. JAMB MAY NOT BE PERFECT OR FAIR BUT NOT TO THE EXTENT OF POST-UME. POST-UME IS A WAY FOR UNIVERSITY STAFF TO FIX UP ADMISSION FOR THEIR CONTACTS.

I wrote this article last year


Abolishing post-UME, not the answer

Due to the increasing gap between the numbers of candidates seeking admission and available admission slots, there has been increased pressure on the process. This pressure led lead to increased cases of admission fraud. The announcement by our lawmakers to abolish the post-University Matriculation Examination (UME) test has been raising dust. While some oppose the motion, many support it.

The question now is, if post-UME is scrapped then how credible is the UME results? Will the House of Representatives make sure examination malpractices are reduced to the barest minimum? The examination and admission procedure has indeed failed.

I witnessed an ugly event in 2009 on the day of the UME examination somewhere in Obiagu, Enugu State. I was drawn close by a youthful crowd; they were clustered and running about. I was curious then I joined the crowd. Behold our prospective undergraduates were busy getting solutions to the same UME questions they were about to write. I was not surprised owing to the fact that some officials of JAMB were their willing collaborators.

Just like the American Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the UME test should to an extent be used to predict a potential students’ performance in the university. A candidate with a high GRE or SAT score is a potential candidate for financial aid and scholarship opportunities; such candidate is also expected to graduate summa cum laude in the US colleges. In Nigeria this is not the case; many high scoring candidates in the UME perform very poorly in the university.

In my just concluded project, I sought to find out the correlation between the UME scores and the post-UME scores and the correlation between UME scores and the students Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The results indicated a weak relationship between the entry examinations and the students’ performances. I went further using Regression Analysis to develop a model which was to be used to predict the students’ CGPA using the CGPA, UME scores and post-UME scores as the variables. The study revealed that the predictive model developed cannot be used to predict the students CGPA since the scores were found to be unrealistic indicators of the future performance of the students.

Undergraduate students’ performance in the university does not really depend on their scores in the entry examinations; be it UME or post-UME. Other factors like excellent learning environment, good accommodation, supportive lecturers and security of lives and properties play very important roles in the students’ academic performances. A friend at the Abia State University complained to me that he would be writing his first semester examination. He was sad; the reason was that he was going to write seven courses in four days, worst of all writing courses which have not been introduced by the lecturers. This and many other factors result in poor grades. For these reasons the female student go the extra mile to get down with male lecturers, all in the name of "marks". So, even when JAMB and the universities test the student’s knowledge, they get to the universities to contend with unfriendly lecturers; lecturers who do not respect their customers (students).

Post-UME candidates have had to put up with different challenges encountered in the name of writing screening tests. Commendable are the University of Ilorin, University of Lagos and University of Jos that stepped higher to conduct computer-based tests. They were really applauded for doing this, yes! But the managements of these universities did not consider candidates coming from disadvantage backgrounds. Some of them didn’t know how to move the mouse! The aim of a computer-based test is to enable the candidates get an on-the-spot result after the test. This was not the case at the University of Jos; the university released the admission list without releasing the scores of the candidates. A candidate has the right to know his or her performance, pass or fail, in an examination.

Candidates who have written post-UME in other schools have complained of writing subjects outside the programme they applied for. In 2008, candidates who applied to study English Language and other Art related courses at the University of Abuja were made to write Islamic Studies as part of the post-UME test. For me, this was done to shelve away candidates of a particular conviction. Yet the university prides itself as a catchment area for the all states in Nigeria. Accommodation is another challenge these young Nigerians face during the screening test.

There is more to abolishing the post-UME, if the test must be scrapped, JAMB must put its house in order and conduct a credible and malpractice-free examination. If the post-UME stays then the call is for the universities to ensure they give all candidates equal chance. The universities should conduct the post-UME during long vacations to enable the prospective candidates put up at the hall of residence at a subsidised rate. This was the example exhibited by the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) at the 2007 post-UME where they charged the candidates a low rate of N300 for a bed space. Universities should also ensure that the candidates are tested on subjects related to their proposed course of study or rather they should conduct a standardized test which examines the candidates’ learning aptitude. Universities should also ensure that the test registration cards are available at all the branches of the banks nationwide. Another plight the candidates faced is the dangers on our bad roads. Candidates have been made to travel back and forth twice; one to purchase the forms and secondly to write the test. This also causes heavy financial burden on their parents.

Nnamdi, just graduated Maths & Statistics, ESUT Enugu

http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/50071/1/Abolishing-post-UME-not-the-answer/Page1.html

No real acadamician will support the abolishment of Post UTME.

Crucially, this senators name is heiniken. Wtf?

The main reason why JAMB was introduced in the late was to curb corruption and the exclusion of some persons who have no financial wherewithal by the so called consensual exams of the unis atbthat time. Post ume is returning to the same process again. We need to improve JAMB aha it Ty rather than post ume

I totally support the abolishment of post UME in our tertiarry institution. You people castigating the postal that support the senates decision don't know what students seeking for admissions pass through in the name of writing post jambs.
Apart from charging students for the fees which is on the increase, they also subject students to stressful conditions in one way or the other and at the end of the day admissions are done through the back doors. I support the moves by the senates.

the law setting up universities guarantees Them academic freedom to establish courses(establishment only and once all facilities are on ground cannot be denied approval), recruit staff, determine how to admit (eg set jamb scores) and how to fire (students and staff).

I wonder how the national senate will legislate for universities how they admit student more so when the establishment of the post jamb was not through an act of parliament.

the senate should allow universities to determine the academic standing of their intake. if unilag wants to be a first class university where only high achievers are admitted so be it. if Unical wants the lower rung so be it. let universities be influenced by their surroundings, vision and objectives.

bodies like jamb are products of a unitary, military chain of command sort of government which held fort in the not to distant past.

That post UME trouble,danger,or you people call it exam should be abolished with immediate effect.
That thing is an ill wind that blows no one any good.Universities use it to prevent the poor from going to school.
Those Universities are not fair in their selection process,It is always full of irregularities.

@larrysng  I am a post ume candidate and I totally support it because I have seen what happens during the so-called jamb, runs flying in from different angles. If Jamb can be written like SAT, then post ume can be stopped cos there's no way of cheating in SAT except the teacher goes away for a minute and they won't. But for now, post ume must stay so the universities would see the kind of students they are admitting. I think university of ibadan's decision to conduct a post ume this year was a very good one because their so called students with A-parallel were scoring 18/100, imagine

It must be stop because, the schools organising the post- Jamb have also encouraged corruption in the processes and its not longer credible at all again. And its an avenue for the VC, bursar etc in the Universities to steal money from this post-ume (Each school are at will to sell form at any price, and the numbers of people buying the forms are not regulated).

Jamb shuld be restructured. We blame jamb, what about WAEC & NECO. NECO was formed because some Nigerians believed thet  WAEC was no longer credible, SO what is the different btw NECO and WAEC now even NECO is worst.

The problem in the Eduaction sector is Students are no longer reading and their parents are encouraging cheating, forging and bribery etc. This is as a result of what there fathers do to win election by all means. The problem is not the system, but people operating the system. The same system worked fine in other West African countries then why must Nigeria be an exception.

if these people fear Jamb will go out of extinction, they should instead pass a law that Jamb should start administering exams on mental health test, integrity test, love of country test etc, compulsory before  confirmation of office seekers after vote-rigging,
it is only in Nigeria that programs never get reviewed or binned if useleslike the s one-direction of-no-good NYSC,

All of us know what is happening in our institutions today, Many first class, 2.1,2.2 graduates can not defend the Certificates they have. Many students sleep with lecturers to have 2.1, many students have lecturers on their pay roll. SO its a critical problem that did not only start from Jamb, but a fundamental rot in the educational system of our country. Most private secondary schools are known for sure to past Waec, how? because they encourage Mass malpractices and parents will deliberately enroll their wards there. Most parents will pay every and anything for the institution to admit thir wards. so let us look critically beyond Jamb and go to the bases to attack the fundamental cankerworm that has plagued our Education.
The Educational System should be re-structured.

I do not support the move. Where were they when JAMB was going to the dogs?

The same Guy that cheated in the JAMB exam will certainly do evrythin to cheat in the Post- Utme, or are there going to be machine or computer that will invigilate, mark and admit the students thru all the processes. The problem is fundamental.

Hold on a sec. Why would any enlightened nd informed homo-sapien support the stay of this joke of an exam called POST-UME? Like fuel subsidy, it should'nt be in the first place. Maybe it was initiated by our higher institutions 2 fully assertain their calibre of applicants before giving them admission; but what do we have today? Some unscrupulous minds taking advantage of connection-kwarshiokored admission seekers after been subjected 2 life threatening treatment. make them 2 cough hundreds of thousands (or is no one aware of the situation which was aired no national radio where a parent had to pay as much as 1.6 million naira 4 her 2 children's admission) 2 bribe lecturers as those who barely attain the cut off mark are given admission while those who score high above the cut off mark are cut off and people are here cracking joke. Thank God Almighty that my prayers for a beautiful transformation 4 My beloved Nigeria is finally been answered. Kudos to Iweala/GEJ! Kudos 2 the initiator of this life changing 4 good bill! Finally we'll have the Nigeria of our dreams.

@francis247 when you become a university v.c or own your university and students enter with very good grades in waec and jamb but perform woefully in classes, maybe you'll understand why post ume must stay

The post ume is just as sh.i.tty and as unreliable as the cra.ppy jamb anyways, the same mago mago goes on and the same kerosene filled brains get into school while geniuses are forced to stay home wiping some kid's as.s and picking beans because daddy don't got dough nor connections. The entire educational system is a sham anyways so y'all can just take it to the church for deliverance. This post ume gist is just a ploy to get nigerians talking while the leaders plot the fuel subsidy stuff, so when it's implemented y'all will be too busy talking bout this or the abortion ish or the homo criminalization stuff to even NOTICE. Get this, it will NEVER be implemented

post-utme is becoming more fraudulent than the main utme exam itself.

all efforts should be geared towards making the utme less fraud ridden
while we do away with all the individual school post-utme exams.

my brother recently sat for one f these exams and i know what he went
through. it was not palatable at all.

whatEVER mtchewwwwwwwwwwwwww