The Registrar/Chief Executive of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, has reacted to the protest at the University of Lagos by parents and candidates who could not access the university’s admission.

Ojerinde noted that the policy introduced by JAMB, for which he has been criticised, “is actually meant to help the candidates not only to get admission but to get it on time”.

Ojerinde explained that the decision to reallocate candidates who cannot be admitted into their choice institutions because of the high cut-off marks set by the institutions for the various courses to other federal, states and private institutions in that order, depending on the availability of spaces, choice of the course of the candidate, geographical zone of the candidates’ first choice and the performance of the candidates, was to help the candidates and reduce the numbers of qualified candidates who miss out on admissions yearly due to limited spaces.

He noted that JAMB had made the situation clear to the institutions during its policy meeting on July 14 after it held discussions with the representatives of the federal, state and private universities where the degree of the problems of candidates were presented and solutions were proffered.

“By this approach, wastage of high scores will be reduced, the fate of the candidates will be determined on time and yet the interest of their areas of study may be satisfied,” Ojerinde stated, noting that the decision became imperative because “the big universities are overloaded” while others have spaces that are not filled.

He explained further: “Can you imagine 8,000 students seeking admission to study law in a university that will take only 250 candidates for law? The remaining 7,750 candidates will wait endlessly and hopelessly till the end of the admission. Or imagine 7,500 candidates seeking admission to study medicine in a university. Of these 7,500 candidates, 2,000 scored above 250 in the UTME. The university has a carrying capacity of only 150 candidates for medicine. The remaining 7,350 who scored above 200 will be wasted. Particularly, 1,750 candidates who scored above 250 will be wasted while other universities either do not have enough candidates or high scoring candidates.”

He added that JAMB had discovered that courses like Biological Sciences, Pharmacy, Agricultural Engineering and related courses are, in most cases, without enough candidates in the universities while everyone scampered to study medicine and only a small percentage eventually get admitted.

He said: “We are saying: let’s give them a feel of chance somewhere else that has not gotten enough candidates for law or medicine by sending the names of these high scorers to ‘needy’ universities. In addition, the concept of selection by merit, catchment area and educationally less developed states will be adequately catered for.

“However, I am not saying that everyone will get admission or even get their original choice of course of study. But it is better than wasting the time, finances and good scores of these candidates. We need to fill the available spaces as given to us by the regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education and the National Commission for Colleges of Education. But if a candidate does not want the given opportunity, he can decline the offer and just refuse to take any step.”

Ojerinde indicted some so-called educational consultants who have hidden agenda, which are being thwarted by JAMB’s proactive steps, as being behind the protests, warning: “This is a period of change. If they do not change, they will be changed.”

http://www.metronaija.com/2015/07/new-jambs-admission-policy-meant-to.html

cc: lalasticlala ishilove

wrong section...

Only if the northerners see education as life itself.

We dont need ur explanations oga dibu

jamb should have provided a section for financial details of each aspirant during registration for proper posting if they really want to help......if u post "son a carpenter " who jejely chose fed university to a private university which his forefathers can't afford, Na help be that or otherwise

I don't see how this aid circulate to low scorer, intending to study what the university has now rated so high for screening test.

Not everybody can afford the tution fee of private universities...

Dibu should spear us all this epistle and reverse that silly policy... Gone are the days where people in position of power will impose things on the helpless masses..

Sir.. If u carry poor a poor man's child to a private university....... . Who will pay the school fees .

True leaders never use power to empower their self

I think his explanation is plausible enough. The only problem I have with the policy is the affordability of private universities by not-too-buoyant students. In a way, I'm suspecting that some of the schools are behind the protest for their mischievous reasons.

Firstly, let's look at it from the money being realized from post UTME alone. In a school like UNILAG where they get over 75,000 candidates writing their post-utme exams, this policy would have reduced such number to about 20,000 to 25,000. So, about 50,000 candidates would have been spared the agony of wasting their hard-earned money on admission that is never sure in the first place.

Secondly, most of the lecturers in those big schools may not be favourably disposed to this policy as it would not allow them to manipulate the system to favour their wards. We know that preference is given to children of the staff of a university as long as they are able to score above 200 to the detriment of the students that merited it in the first instance. With this policy in place, such children would have been weeded out and made to compete with their counterparts in other school giving chance to those candidates that merit the admission but "do not have enough long legs" in the system.

Thirdly, from experience, most of these candidates aspiring to these big schools ended up in colleges of education for NCE. Even most of them often end up wasting their above-200 scores because of their poor judgement. I have a situation at hand now of a candidate that scored 249 in the last UTME but will be admitted for an NCE course in a college of education. Imagine such a waste of talent! But with this policy in place, such candidate would have been shortlisted to a university where she stands a chance of getting admission.

Lasty, the debate can go on and on but there are always two sides to a coin. We should try to balance our views and be patient enough to see the other view as it is.

Cheers.