There is no gainsaying the fact that the standard of education has fallen in Nigeria. Worse still, examination malpractice appears to be the norm, not the exception. Yet in view of the fact that education is the indispensable launching pad for economic growth, sound health and technological breakthrough of any nation, we as a people cannot afford to ignore the need for quality control as an essential road map to qualitative education.Until recently, the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board was solely responsible for the conduct of entrance examinations into Nigerian universities. It played this role creditably well ab initio. But unhealthy developments soon crept in as allegations of massive fraud were made regarding JAMB. Candidates marks were allegedly swapped. Students who were known to be brilliant got low marks while average and dull students surprisingly received scandalously high marks. Allegations of JAMB officials selling marks were rife. All kinds of thugs and riff-raffs found their ways into the universities so long as they (or their parents) had the money to throw around.The fall-out of this embarrassing situation was the poor performance of students in the university. It led to idleness, absenteeism and cultism among students. Undergraduates could not write simple letters. Their spoken English became the poorest in the West African sub-region. The standard of education fell to an all-time low and stakeholders were quick to finger JAMB as the main culprit. It was discovered that admission was being offered by JAMB to candidates who did not merit it in any way. As a corollary to this, graduates of Nigerian universities could no longer perform the duties expected of them. Our building engineers could not build ordinary nests for birds, our surgeons left scissors and needles inside patients stomachs, it was observed, while our economists and political scientists could not proffer solutions to Nigerias hydra-headed socio-economic problems. That is why we are where we are today.It was against this background that the universities in the country put their heads together and designed what is now called the post-UTME screening. This exercise is intended to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is indubitable that it has succeeded in weeding out undeserving elements since it was introduced about three years ago. It has ensured that only genuinely interested candidates are admitted into universities. Cultism and other anti-social practices have reduced among students.MURIC appeals to the members of the National Assembly to leave the post-UTME examinations as they are. The universities know the stuff to expect from their candidates. JAMB is already over-pampered and bloated. It has outlived both its relevance and usefulness. The staff in JAMB bear no sense of belonging to any university. They have nothing at stake so they can stomach corruption in the system. The universities are keen on getting the best materials into their institutions. We therefore urge the National Assembly to listen to the universities. Any attempt to scrap the post-UTME screening being conducted by the universities will definitely drag the nations education sector back to the Stone Age.Dr. Is-haq Akintola, Director, Muslim Rights Concern 234-818-211-9714.
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