Good bye to post-JAMB

Without prior notice, the other day, the controversial post-JAMB (post-UME) examination through which universities selected candidates for admission was scrapped by the Federal Government. With that, it is bye-bye to post-UME. That effectively gives the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) leeway to solely conduct entrance examination into universities and other tertiary institutions, if that is still necessary. Otherwise, it is time the universities started conducting their own admission exercise as it was in the past.

Just as post-UME was introduced without prior notice about a decade ago, it has also been discarded the same way because there is no law backing it. It came by executive fiat and has also been scrapped by executive fiat. The development showcases the Nigerian situation that has no enduring system; anything goes depending on who is in power.

According to reports, the House of Representatives ordered the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC), to ensure the immediate abolition of post-UME in the nation’s universities.

The House’s resolution noted that “the introduction of the post matriculation examination in universities is subjective, stressful, and exploitative on parents and candidates and, therefore, an aberration.” The universities, the House noted, conduct post-UME only to raise funds at the detriment of poor candidates and parents.

The House said whatever reasons existed to justify the introduction of the post-UME have been debased by recent happenings where mass leakage of question papers before the date of the examination has been reported. It added that the universities have not shown enough tardiness in the conduct of the post-UME. That effectively provided the bases for the Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to parley over the matter.

The decision was taken during the Policy Committee meeting for the 2016 admissions to universities and other tertiary institutions. The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who made the disclosure at the end of the meeting, stated that the Federal Government has confidence in JAMB examinations. As a result, he said the universities should not be conducting another examination. He advised the institutions to bring any complaints they have against JAMB for resolution.

To start with, the introduction of post-UME was totally uncalled for. Those who argued that they didn’t have confidence in JAMB examinations are myopic in the sense that the same environment in which JAMB conducts its examinations is the same that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) conducts its exams. And the same candidates who sit for WAEC with their parents/guardians solidly behind them are the same candidates who also sit for JAMB. Therefore, if there is no confidence in JAMB exams, there should also be no confidence in WAEC and other public exams.

If any public examination had ever witnessed gross examination malpractices and is still allowed to continue, it is WAEC. Therefore, if there is any examination whose integrity had been shaken over the years, it is WAEC. As such, any loss of confidence shouldn’t be on JAMB alone. All public examinations cum institutional examinations in the country suffer the same fate. All carry the similar level of contempt. It was in bad faith that JAMB was singled out as scapegoat.

And to prove the point, the universities didn’t fare better in the conduct of the post-UME. It is public knowledge that the universities were more interested in the amount of money they raked from the exercise. They didn’t care who got admission or not. One first generation university once invited every candidate to its post-UME test whether or not it was chosen by the candidates simply to make more money. The university reportedly raked in over N50 million from the poor candidates over one weekend. What else is fraud if that wasn’t?

Apart from bastardisation, post-UME caused a lot of havoc. Many candidates and their parents perished in plane crash and or road accidents travelling to take post-UME. At the peak of it, post-UME became even worse than JAMB in all ramifications. Given the level of corruption in the system, I doubt if the universities could conduct good admission exercise anymore.

But the greater issue is whether JAMB has not outlived its purpose, which is to ensure fair distribution of admission across the states of the federation. JAMB was created in 1978 when the country had less than 13 federal universities, unlike now that we have more than 130 universities. Today, every state has federal, state and private universities. The gap that informed the establishment of JAMB has been filled.

Except JAMB is left there to suppress the southern states so that the so-called “educationally disadvantaged” northern states could catch up, I think it is time that JAMB gave way  and let the universities conduct their own admission exercise as it is the case all over the world. With the proliferation of universities across the federation, no state is disadvantaged anymore. The onus is on the states to build up their education base in order to boost their citizens’ education coverage. There will be healthy competition if the universities conduct their admission. The existence of JAMB has rubbished the universities’ autonomy. The minister directed that the universities should issue admission letters to candidates.  JAMB usurped this power over four decades.

There are international best methods of quality control in universities, which is not only by unified admission. Even if JAMB were to continue to conduct entrance examination, the universities should be free to set their minimum score. The idea of a flat cut-off point of 180 out of 400 is retrogressive. It amounts to promoting mediocrity. In any standard, a score of 180 over 400 is failure. This odd cut-off mark has been set to accommodate failures. Where are the university materials that we used to know? Why admit chaff?

There is no country in the world where all universities have the same standard. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the ivy-league institutions that are world acclaimed. Institutions should distinguish themselves.  The country loses if there is no difference between the first generation universities at Ibadan, Lagos, Nsukka and Zaria and the new generation state and private universities. Our own ivy-league should set the pace. Setting the same cut-off mark for University of Lagos, for instance, and a newly established private polytechnic in one village is senseless. It is an insult and shows lack of critical thinking.