Stakeholders fault JAMB on cut-off marks for admission

Concerned stakeholders have faulted the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over its 140 minimum benchmark for admission to universities, describing it as demeaning and capable of further lowering education standard.

Noting that 140 is 30 per cent of the total score of 400 marks, the stakeholders wondered why institutions should descend so low admitting students with scores as low as 30 per cent.

The examination body, alongside heads of tertiary institutions in the country, had pegged the minimum benchmark score for admission into universities at 140 and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, had, however, clarified that there’s no such thing as ‘cut-off mark’ in the admission process to tertiary institutions in Nigeria, saying what’s obtainable is minimum tolerable score determined by individual institutions.

But President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said it was unfortunate that institutions would admit students with scores below 200.

Osodeke said: “Why are we descending to this level where universities are admitting candidates who scored as low as 30 per cent in their exams? When you look at reputable institutions like the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), they won’t accept anything less than 200.

“Yet, some universities, especially newer private ones, admit students with scores as low as 140. This situation is widespread across the country, not just in the north. Many schools are lowering their admission standards,” he lamented.

Osodeke also complained about the quality of teachers at the secondary school level, saying educators who are poorly paid would not give their best. He said: “How can we expect quality teaching when teachers are paid as little as N25,000 a month? This is a national disaster. Nigeria urgently needs to declare a state of emergency in the sector.

“Back in the day, you couldn’t even dream of getting into a good school with a score below 200. But now, government schools at all levels are struggling, and admissions are increasingly going to private institutions that operate on a cash-and-carry basis. If action isn’t taken soon, our universities will continue to decline,” Osodeke warned.

On his part, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Dr Akin Olumuwagun, urged the examination body to reconsider its minimum score to 40 per cent, which would equate to 160 out of 400, instead of the current 30 per cent.

According to him, scoring below 40 per cent reflects a significant decline in education standards.

“JAMB should revert to a minimum of 40 per cent, aligning with the pass mark in the country’s higher institutions. The Ministry of Education should also prioritise teacher training and encourage professional development courses. School curricula should also be updated to reflect modern perspectives,” Olumuwagun stated.

But a Professor of Education, Rebecca Akpan, reminded that JAMB is not designed as a competency or skills test, but as an entrance selection tool for institutions.

She noted that while JAMB sets a minimum benchmark, institutions can exceed by setting higher admission standards, the actual scores for admission into most courses are often significantly higher than JAMB’s minimum requirements.

She pointed out that high-demand courses typically have very competitive percentile ranges for admission.

“For example, while an institution could set a minimum cut-off mark of 120 for all programmes, it could also demand 250 for some categories of programmes, duly reputed for the quality of staff and support facilities, which make them competitive, or those available only at a handful of institutions, such as Medicine or Architecture.”

Akpan said as competition intensifies in the higher education sub-sector, each institution would raise standards, invest in equipment, facilities and personnel to attract a higher quality of intakes, while also sustaining less competitive academic programmes.

On concerns that only 10 to 15 universities are in high demand by candidates, leaving others scouting for students, the scholar reminded that every country has its cohort of Ivory League institutions, which will attract the cream of applicants, although not all of them will get in.