JAMB’s 2019 Policy Meeting

“You can never change things in a society by fighting the existing reality.  To change something, you can only build a new model that can render the old one obsolete’’. Anonymous

It was a unique gathering of who is who intellectual in Gbongan, Osun State, last Tuesday, June 11, 2019. The venue was Bola Babalakin (Executive) Auditorium. And the purpose was for distinguished stakeholders in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to put heads together and jointly determine the Cut-off Pass Mark for 2019/2020 admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions as a matter of policy. The one day session which brought hundreds of Vice-Chancellors, Proprietors, Rectors, Provosts and relevant Professionals of various fields of discipline together was coordinated by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Cut-off Marks

After serious deliberations by those stakeholders, the following conclusions were unanimously reached and approved:

That the Cut-off Mark for candidates who wrote this year’s JAMB examination and are seeking admission into Nigerian public Universities, the Cut-off Mark is 160.

For candidates seeking admission in 2019/2020 into private Universities, the Cut-off Mark is 140.

For candidates who are seeking admission into public Polytechnics, in 2019/2020, the Cut-off Mark is 120.

For candidates seeking admission into private Polytechnics in 2019/2020, the Cut-off Mark is 110.

For candidates seeking admission into Colleges of Education, the Cut-off Mark is 100.

 

Possible Cut-off Marks Increase

However, as jointly agreed, any tertiary institution may raise its Cut-off Mark above the agreed figures. But none should lower the Cut-off Mark below the approved figures. This means the Cut-off marks of some public Universities may rise up to 180 or even 200 depending on the arising situation.

 

Limit of Admission Time

It was also agreed that admission processes into public tertiary institutions should be concluded by December 19, 2019 while that of the private institutions should end by February 15, 2020. These decisions were taken not by JAMB but by consensus of stakeholders including the representatives of all institutions.

 

Between Literacy and Education

After the meeting, some participants who read an article entitled ‘JAMB’s New Policy’ written by yours sincerely and published in ‘The Message’ column last year, requested me to republish the article to serve as a further enlightenment for members of the public. And since readers, like customers, in a market, are kings and queens in their own rights, who must be venerated, I decided to publish an excerpt from the article. Here it goes: “If most literate Nigerian city dwellers called elite hear or read about JAMB’s new policy, the tendency is for them to react, if tacitly, with the usual Nigerian    reprobate as follows: This JAMB again! Why   is it toying with different ideas from time to time?

Despite the claim of education-based civilization by those elite, it has virtually become a permanent tradition for them to seek progress without wanting to pass through a process of change. Yet, nothing guarantees progress as much as change through the rule of law”.

 

 Rule of Law

“Rule of law in any sane society is not a mere expression of wishes. It is rather the real basis of guaranteeing enduring serenity. A society or organization without rule of law is like an episode in George Orwell’s allegorical plot in his famous novella entitled ‘Animal Farm’ in which all animals are said to be equal in theory but some are practically seen to be more equal than others.

JAMB is not an ‘Animal Farm’ that can be given conflicting interpretations according to conflicting perceptions. But when writing about unique Board, making an allusion to George Orwell’s book may serve a light-throwing reference”.

 

Innovation

“Like any trustable and sustainable Board or Organization that genuinely serves the people, JAMB is not resting on its oars in ensuring firmness of the rule of law for furtherance of serenity in the country.

That is why it (JAMB) created a broad-based  ‘Critical Stakeholders Forum’ in 2017, as a way of carrying along well-meaning concerned members of the public with their various specialized expertise, thereby making the Board a truly service-oriented public institution for the country’s development”.

 

Critical Stakeholders Forum

“Since its establishment in 2017, JAMB’s ‘Critical Stakeholders Forum’ has tremendously assisted the management of that Board in engendering a positive departure from the hitherto public perception in which the institution was negatively shrouded. The inputs of the ‘Critical Stakeholders Forum’ into the policies of JAMB have come to confirm significantly that it is quite possible to run an institution like JAMB democratically, even in a country like Nigeria, despite all overt and covert odds. Thus, today, the formulation of policies in JAMB is no longer an exclusive burden for which the Registrar or Management staff of that institution can be taken to ransom. Most of those policies are now jointly formulated at an open door annual meeting of virtually all professionals whose diverse expertise are effectively tapped for the advancement of JAMB and the progress of Nigeria. This dynamic action initiated by the Registrar of JAMB, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, in less than six months after his assumption of office has not just facilitated a thorough understanding of JAMB operations by Nigerian public; it has also become a quiet but constructive revolution that can be globally emulated and possibly equaled but not surpassed”.

 

Biometric Verification

“One of JAMB’s recent policies that were formulated for effective execution during the 2019 UTME is mandatory biometric verification which all candidates for year 2018 examination were made to pass through for the first time ever.

Thus, the candidates for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and those of the future are now aware that biometric verification is compulsory for them and without it, there will be no admittance into the examination hall”.

 

No Alternative

“The JAMB’s Biometric Verification policy which has no alternative is an official scrutiny of any candidate’s claim of an identity.  It is an authentication formality with which every candidate will be admitted into the examination hall. Any candidate without certified biometric verification will not be allowed to write the examination.

And no candidate without biometric verification should expect a reschedule of his/her missed examination for any reason. This policy, being emphatically presented here, is already contained in Vol. 1, N0 11 of the official weekly bulletin of JAMB which can be found in JAMB’s website and has equally been disseminated to Nigerian media for publication or broadcasting. Thus, parents of UTME candidates who consider it their duty to follow their teenage children or wards to examination centers, despite those children’s age and exposure, should note this policy very well and be prepared to abide by it scrupulously in the future. The summary is that no biometric verification, no examination. JAMB officials too should note that any candidate who cannot be verified should not be kept waiting to loiter around the examination hall. Such a candidate should immediately be advised to get in touch with JAMB office through the already known means”.

 

Handicapped Candidates

“As for handicapped candidates, JAMB has made adequate provision for them through the use of certain devices with which they are quite familiar. They are therefore advised to follow the instructions given to them by JAMB officials and simply abide by the rule of law in order not to regret anything after the exam”.

 

Attendance Register

“All candidates should know as well that there is no attendance registration other than biometric verification. Any available photo album found at an examination center will have no space for marking ‘present or absent’. And all examination officials including security agents are strictly advised in their own interest to comply with these guidelines”.

 

Prohibited Materials

“Besides the introduction of biometric verification which is now compulsory for all candidates with no exception, JAMB has listed some materials that are prohibited in its Computer Based Test Centers (CBTC). Such prohibited materials include: books, mobile phones, ink pens and biros, pencils and erasers, wrist watches and jewelries as well as calculators, miniature electronic devices, smart eye lenses, ear pieces, blue tooth devices, bitsy microphones, teeny secret recorders and similar cheating devices. In the case of spy reading glasses which some candidates cannot do without, such must be surrendered to JAMB officials for scrutiny”.

 

Timeliness

“All UTME candidates are strictly advised to arrive at their examination centers well ahead of the time earmarked for the commencement of examination. Lateness of any candidate to the examination center may constitute a hindrance for his/her participation in the examination”.

 

Effect of Change

“The changes that had caused human progress from time to time in history were never compatible with the existing perennial traditions of those humans because of the revolutionary tendencies of those changes. Whether in the primordial or contemporary time, revolution has effectively proved to be the main determinant of human progress. Therefore, a society without revolution,  will surely be stagnant”.

 

History of JAMB

“When the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was established 42 years ago (1977), it came as a revolution which the then existing system of seeking admission into tertiary institutions through concessional examination first tried to resist. At that time, only about six full- fledged Universities were in existence in Nigeria. They were called ‘First Generation’ Universities. The six Universities were the bUniversity of Nigeria, Nsuka, founded in 1960; the University of Lagos, founded in 1962; Ahmadu Bello University founded in 1962; the University of Ife, founded in 1962; the University of Ibadan, upgraded to a full-fledged University in 1963 and the University of Benin, founded in 1970.

Until its upgrade into a full-fledged University in 1963, the University of Ibadan which was established in 1948 as a college of the University of London was the only Higher Institution in Nigeria foreign University”.