By OUR CORRESPONDENT –
The Senate Committee on Tertiary Education, Basic and Secondary, has commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for the successful conduct of the 2021 UTME/DE as well as the various landmark achievements it has recorded under the current leadership of the Board.
The committee also hinted that it would pursue with vigour, the amendment of the law establishing the Board to address the preponderance of underage candidates sitting the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Similarly, the committee also hinted that it would ensure that any candidate taking the UTME or applying through DE for admission is 16 years and above.
The Vice-Chairman of the committee, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, who stood in for the Chairman, Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam, who was unavoidably absent, gave this assurance shortly after the committee’s oversight visit to JAMB on Monday, 12th July 2021.
Senator Eyakenyi said, “Our work is that of making laws, to legislate; we have identified two major areas that we need to go into the process of amending the Act establishing JAMB to address these two areas and that’s the area of support we will give.”
Continuing, she said, “JAMB, as the bridge between secondary schools and the university, is a crucial factor in the delivery of quality and standard education in Nigeria. If the products from the secondary schools are not mentally prepared for tertiary education, then you, definitely have a problem.”
Senator Eyakenyi also commended the Board for the smooth conduct of the 2021 UTME, stating that she was physically present at one of the centres and could testify that the exercise was largely free of malpractice owing to the use of relevant technology which had helped to block all loopholes right from the point of registration.
The Senator, who was elated with the uncommon transformations of the Board in terms of state-of-the-art operational processes and infrastructure, gave the Registrar a pass mark saying, “The JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, has done exceedingly well. He is a round peg in a round hole, who knows his job.”
She also stated, “As members of the committee, we intend to pass on what we have seen today to the appropriate MDAs including the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure that JAMB receives necessary and timely support whenever the need arises.”
The eloquent Senator, who stressed the importance of education to the development and future of Nigeria, said, ” The sector deserves maximum attention as good and quality education can only be achieved through proper funding as well as the commitment of teachers and students.”
Commenting on the mandate of the Board as depicted through a short demonstration of the operations of the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), Sen. Eyakenyi said, “JAMB is a vital umpire which has been ensuring that equity and fairness are brought into play in the placement of suitably-qualified candidates into the tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”
In his remarks, the Registrar, JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, who had explained some of the processes of the Board disclosed that the Board’s examination is not a pass or fail examination but a ranking examination designed to rank candidates who already had their five O’level credits which primarily qualify them for admission. He also informed the committee of the challenges confronting the Board as well as its successes and the way forward.
(With a JAMBulletin report)
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