On October 14, 2011, the media widely reported the motion passed by the Senate on the post-UTME exercise. According to the media reports, the motion, brought by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Water Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiori, and co-sponsored by 35 senators was passed by the Senate declaring illegal what he described a post-UTME examination conducted by Nigerian universities for the purpose of admitting fresh students to the institution.According to the senator, only the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has the legal power to conduct entrance examinations for candidates seeking to gain admission into Nigerian universities. He, therefore, declared as illegal, unconstitutional and wicked the current practice a situation whereby universities conduct screening exercises for candidates submitted to them by JAMB before admitting them into their institutions.In furtherance to this position, it mandated its education committee to investigate the actions of the universities which the sponsors of the motion condemned in strong terms as a rip-off of our people and a rape of our laws.However, it must be noted that some senators opposed the motion. For example, Senator Aisha Hassan, reportedly slammed her colleagues who opposed the post-UTME exercise. She argued that quality education which the exercise seeks to entrench should not be sacrificed because it does not favour some.Considering the pre-eminent position of the lawmakers, and in view of the decay in the nations educational system, it has become imperative to address the following issues which emanate from the Senate proceedings: The purport, scope and powers of JAMB under Section 5(a), (c)(ii) of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Act, CAP J1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 The statutory powers of universities to make guidelines for admission of students to universities. The 2002-2007 deafening protests of Concerned Parents coupled with Committee of Pro-Chancellors, Council of Vice-Chancellors on the compromised results paraded by JAMB and the call to scrap JAMB. The final decision of the Federal Government to continue to use JAMB as benchmark while the universities were to commence post-UTME screening exercise. The salutary effect of the screening exercise carried out by universities on students armed with JAMB results. Cost of Screening exerciseSection 5(1)(a) of JAMB Act, provides for the functions of the Board as follows:(a) The general control of the conduct of matriculation examinations for admissions into all Universities, Polytechnics (by whatever name called) and Colleges of Education (by whatever name called) in NigeriaSection 5(1)(b) provides as follows:(b) The appointment of examiners, moderators, invigilators, members of subject panels and committees and other persons with respect to matriculation examinations and any other matter incidental thereto or connected therewithThe combined effect of Section 5(1), (a) and 5(1)(c)(ii) is that the JAMB is statutorily empowered to set and conduct examinations, appoint examiners and other invigilators for the purpose of the examination set by the board.There is nothing strange in this practice. The world over, each country usually sets up joint admission board for its universities.What is in the issue is whether the JAMB is the all in all or one stop shop with regard to universitys admission process or dont the universities have any role to play in the admission process'Put in another way, is it the position that anybody who passes JAMB result must be admitted willy-nilly to the university of his choice'The answer is an emphatic NO. The admission of everybody that parades JAMB results would certainly further damage the quality of tertiary institutions in the country.Austria, Switzerland and Belgium which used to allow unrestricted admission into the university for anyone who passed the qualifying examination soon found to their dismay overcrowding and high dropout rates as well as high failure rates.Consequently, a law was passed allowing universities to impose measures to select students starting from 2006. Medical schools in Vienna were allowed to introduce entrance examination.The JAMB Act is very clear on the role of the board in the admission process. To gain admission into any university, there is more than mere passing of the JAMB examination. This is clear from the provisions of Section 5(1)(c)(ii) of JAMB Act which provides that, The placement of suitably qualified candidates shall be in collaboration with the tertiary institutions after taking into account-(ii) the guidelines approved for each tertiary institution by its proprietor or other competent authority;It is clear from the Act that the guidelines approved by each university by its proprietors are essential factors in the placement of students. The universities are not meant to be armchair participants in the admission process.On the statutory powers of universities to make guidelines for admission of students, it must be noted that all Nigerian universities hold their existence to law. The various universities statutes contain the objectives of each university and the composition and powers of universities organs and officers. A careful examination of these statutes reveal that they share common provisions in relation to the power to determine the suitability of candidates who can be admitted to the university out of those who passed JAMB examination.There is therefore nothing illegal in universities setting up guidelines and giving effect to such guidelines. The giving effect to the guidelines of each university is only possible through screening by each university. This is a task that is beyond JAMB and cannot in any case be undertaken by it. If university certificates are awarded based on character and learning, the quality assurance for these must be instituted right from the beginning. Universities like the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti make guidelines to test the good character of their candidates; their preparedness to abide by the rules and regulations of the university; their readiness to uphold the ideals of the institution, comportment; ability to communicate, physical fitness, the genuineness of certificate the candidate parades, and state of health etc. All these are matters outside the admission competence of JAMB. The foregoing is underscored by Section 5(1)(c)(ii) of the Act which recognises the collaboration of JAMB with the university.As advanced as England is, the decision to admit a student to a course is entirely the decision of each university. Students are expected to provide personal statement on why they want to study the particular subject and evidence that they would be committed students. Academic reference must also be attached from their former schools. Universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, Kings College London, University College London, require students to attend interview and or complete special admission test before the university makes an offer.In America, each college evaluates the candidates using its own criteria and each college has its own criteria even when using a common application form. In Portugal, there is final evaluation by each university. In India, interviews are organised following the national test. In Germany additional entrance examination has recently been introduced for those who passed the entrance examination.For a long time after its inception, JAMB conducted on a yearly basis, separate matriculation examinations into Nigerian universities on the one hand and Polytechnics and Colleges of education on the other hand. In recent years, it conducted a Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.For a long time, JAMB was able to discharge its functions with some level of credibility. To a large extent, the students who were admitted to the universities through the Board seemed to justify its creation in the first place. However, with the passage of time and the advent of other factors such as national population increase, things took a turn for the worse. Factors such as corruption began to have an effect on the quality of students admitted to the universities through JAMB. No longer could the universities be assured that they were admitting the best qualified students. In many instances examination papers were openly compromised and sold to students even within the premises of the examination venue. Students who had scored very high marks in the examination conducted by JAMB were in most cases unable to cope academically after admission by the universities of their choice.Aare Babalola, OFR, SAN, is Founder/President, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti.
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