JAMB approves 160 as minimum score for admission.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has approved 160 as minimum score for admission seekers into public universities in Nigeria for the 2019/2020 academic calendar.

The meeting, which included Vice Chancellors, Rectors of Polytechnics and provost of colleges of education also approved 140 for private universities. The meeting also approved 120 for public polytechnic and 110 for private polytechnic. Also, 100 and above was approved for colleges of education. The registrar of JAMB, professor Isiaq Oloyede in his speech disclosed that plans have been concluded to begin open examination for students seeking admissions into tertiary institutions in Nigeria. According to the JAMB Registrar, the step, which is a new innovation for 2019 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination, UTME, was part of efforts to further curb examination malpractice. He explained that the board was determined to provide one million questions for each subjects out of which 50 would be taken for the examination per each candidate. The JAMB boss who warned that it has become a crime to collect password of candidates at CBT centre, added that the innovation of remote network test will afford the body opportunity to monitor functioning computer without going to the universities. He expressed worry over the rate of applicants for Medicine, saying 436,799 candidates have applied for the course, while 35,923 vacancy is available. Earlier, the Chairman, governing board of JAMB, Dr. Emmanuel Nndukwe, said the board is striving to provide a unique standard that will be acceptable by students and parents. He commended the JAMB Registrar for his commitment and truthfulness, saying that his “transparency, accountability and dedication is legendary. The Director of Tertiary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Ojo Joel Samuel, who spoke on behalf of the permanent secretary of the ministry, enjoined the board to be sensitive, transparent and sincere in the consideration of students cut-off mark. “Accountability and transparency have made it possible for JAMB to directly and indirectly support other Institutions and agencies in the education sector. It is gladdening that NECO has taken a cue with its unprecedented remittance of over a billion naira recently.

“The Taskforce is empowered to recommend appropriate actions against any persons or institutions that fail to protect victims of unethical behaviours or condone such misbehaviour. Heads of Institutions are to set up an Ombudsman system where all cases of unethical behaviours can be reported, with adequate protection for the victims. “No Institution should charge above the Ministerial approved fee of Not More Than Two Thousand Naira (N2,000) for any form of Post-UTME screening exercise. “The Board and the Tertiary Institutions should ensure that candidates under the Special Needs category are considered for admission provided they meet the minimum requirements. “Blind and deaf candidates, prison candidates foreign centre candidates, these candidates should be exempted from any other test apart from routine scrutiny of their credentials. Osun state Governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, who was represented by the Deputy, Mr Benedict Alabi, urged the board to sustain their standard in ensuring that qualified candidates are given admission in line with the guidelines and procedures. Mixed reactions trail delay in release of UTME results(Opens in a new browser tab) He advised the board to give adequate consideration to the people living with disabilities and also strive to further flush out the bad eggs among the board. In his remark, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN, said the auditorium was donated freely for the second time because it was built for “serious intellectual discussion. “We focused on education development. Please support us by participating in the usage of the auditorium. I’m impressed with your efforts to ensure that results of exam is credible.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com