FG to sanction Varsities offering admissions outside CAPS

JOHN ONAH,  Abuja

The Federal Government has threatened to sanction the leadership of any higher institution involved in admitting candidates without prior approval of the board or outside the established platform – Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adam Adamu who disclosed this said that any University found would be treated as corrupting the admission system.

“Universities that offer admission to candidates who sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) without being offered admission by the Central Admissions Processing System(CAPS) will be sanctioned”.

He explained that the intention of the Universities was to lure innocent and more qualified candidates from their preferred programmes so that they could accept other programmes.

The board said that Universities’ Authorities have been advised to immediately withdraw and stop such illegitimate actions

“CAPS ensures due process, fairness, fiscipline and equity in the process. It is through the automated system that ordinary Nigerians are now hopeful of not being denied their rightful place in admission exercise”.

“CAPS system is designed, among other things, to prevent institutions from unilaterally changing or proposing a candidate for admission into other programmes other than his or her chosen one; to disallow an institution to skip a higher ranking candidate to pick a less ranking candidate; and to allow an institution recommend a substitute programme for the consent or rejection of a low ranking candidate, who is not likely to secure a place in the initial programme.

“In order to circumvent the rights of candidates, the institutions are now using their own portals to unlawfully persuade and pressurise candidates to accept another course and then make a change of course on the JAMB portal to the new course supposedly offered on their own portal.

“Any such act will henceforth be visited with appropriate sanctions.”, he added.

The Minister added that the country will be better when leaders do the right thing at the right time.