Former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili,
yesterday criticised the decision of the Joint
Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to
reduce the cut off mark for admission into
universities to 120..
She described it as running a race from top to
bottom, saying the examination body has outlived
the purpose for which it was established.

Ezekweseli told newsmen in Abuja that rather than
conduct entrance examination for university
admission, JAMB should only play a regulatory role
while universities are granted autonomy to conduct
their entrance examinations to determine the quality
of students they want to admit.

She said: “I will say no and there has to be much
more intensity in determining the qualification
attribute should be and once we do that, it will set
us way back to early child education.
“When I see society screening about this cut off
mark they have done, I say you are wasting tears
on a symptom.

“You need to go to the root of the problem and that
means we need to go back to the first phase in
education, which is early child care, basic education
and secondary education which ultimately
determine the readiness of our children to university
education.”

She explained that the idea of establishing JAMB
was that in a federal system, the government
wanted to find a means of equalising standards to
ensure that you set the bar in a way that brings in
everybody.

According to her, “What you then have to look at is,
does it continue to be relevant as a standard setting
mechanism to actually determine who gets to what
university and how? I would say not anymore.

“What we need to do not is to make the role of
JAMB as an exam regulatory body and to grant the
universities the kind of autonomy that would enable
them determine the kind of students they want in
their universities and the level of academic
achievement that they must have to enter their
universities and to do in such a way that you do not
identify mediocrity.

“The way to do it is to ensure that the quality of the
products of each university is traced by society and
rewarded according to their accomplishment.

“When that begins to happen, universities that are
busy taking lowly class people into their system will
not be places people want to go to.”

She went on: “There will be that law of natural
selection on the basis of competitiveness.
“What we have sacrificed in this society is the idea
of competitiveness.

“Competition is the factor that drives creativity,
innovation and excellence. As long as we go on a
race to the bottom, we will never be a great nation.”
Throwing more light on the cut off mark, the former
Minister said: “I think there are really issues in
terms of determining the bench mark for the
qualified students of our tertiary institutions.

“But I don’t think that we are addressing it in the
more fundamental ways it needs to be addressed.
“What exactly is the score in a JAMB exam? What
does it really mean? I think that we need to be even
more robust in determining that.
“There are basic objective questions but there
should be a way that decentralises the capacity of
universities to determine the qualification and
character in competency and cognitive ability of
those that they would admit.

“As we go into a new global economic state in the
world, it will not be sufficient that those who score
between 120 and 180 become the standard.

“They are not setting your ceiling, they are setting
your floor.
“But what we should ask is whether the floor of 120
is sufficient to give a university the right raw
materials to train in other to make them world class
human capital.

“I will say no and there has to be much more
intensity in determining the qualification attribute
should be and once we do that, it will set us way
back to early child education.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/ezekwesili-120-jamb-cut-off-mark-racing-bottom-top/

It is painfully ironic that the education sector that should have at least half-thinking humans with a solid and sound mind is filled with shallow minded and backward thinking clowns.

See the way she's talking sef as if she has written jamb before..

Yeligray:
See the way she's talking sef as if she has written jamb before..

Please read and read again from left to right this time what you just posted and see if what you posted make sense.
Try not to ridicule yourself next time.

I've got just four words for you madame, WEE YOU KEEP QUAYET!!!

See how she's gently speaking English, is she scared of bring picked up as an advocate of 'hate speech' or being anti-government? If it was during Jonathan's time she'd part those large lips and insult him without mincing words.

It is obvious that the aim of this APC fulani government is to introduce new and improved mediocrity into every sphere of Nigeria and they have successfully indoctrinated millions of zombies.

The woman has a point, not that her child(ren) are going to sit for Jamb, but at least she's considering how Jamb is been in position to settke for that kind of score with the sort of Educational Competiveness all over the world.
.
.
What do u expect after 5bln was remitted, dnt u know that with the score reduce, students that will want to apply for jamb increases and more money will be remitted.

A guy I know was rejoicing about the slash in marks. Yeah, he got 139; can you believe that? He still hopes to get into school (a university) with 139. Not even a college should accept 139.

The reason why there is a jamb cut off mark is to give chance to people that won't give up early.

Many people with low jamb cut off won't survive the first 2years of university pressure in terms of their studies.
Talk more of four to five years.

Ok

Cc lalasticlala

She should direct this epistle to APC.