The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has
rejected the cut-off points for admission into tertiary institutions,
describing the reduction as a gross misplacement of priority and exercise in
futility.
NANS Vice President Olamide Odumosu,
spoke at a protest by the group at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board
(JAMB) in Bwari, on Thursday.
Odumosu said that the reduction in the
cut-off points would only lead to corruption as well as worsen the level of
academic performance of students.
He added that NANS had supported the
present administration in its fight against corruption, but the recent
development was an act of exploitation on Nigerian students.
“JAMB in conjunction with Vice
Chancellors and Provosts is exploiting Nigerian students, thereby reducing the
level of education in the country.
“JAMB giving us 120 as a cut-off mark
for Nigeria universities is a slap to our country.”
Odumosu added that the association would
mobilise students across the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT), to stage a protest if nothing was done to all of their plights.
Also, Idowu Odebunmi, National Public
Relations Officer of the association, accused the board of conniving with Vice
Chancellors in bastardising the standards of Nigerian education.
Ajayi also said that the increment in
the regularisation fees by the board from N5,000 to N10,000 should be reviewed.
Inscriptions like: ‘‘NANS say no to 120
cut-off marks,’ ‘say no to corruption in our education sector,’ ‘say no to post
UTME fraud,’’ were written on the placards carried by the group.
Meanwhile, the National President of the
association, Chinonso Obasi has condemned the cut-off marks reduction by JAMB
and stakeholders.
Obasi, in a statement, said the review
from 180 for universities and 165 polytechnics, now 120 and 100, respectively
was uncalled for.
According to him, knowledge
acquisition is a function of determination and hard work.
“And so, if over the years, students
were able to work hard to meet cut-off points, it doesn’t make any logical
sense to now lower the standard.”
He added that the inability of any
student to meet the cut-off points was a function of outright indolence that
should not be encouraged.
According to him, the general phenomenon
is that Nigerian graduates are not employable, lowering of standard will
translate to a disastrous outcome in the future by churning out young people,
who cannot fit into the labour demands and expectations of the 21st century.
“Nigerian youths are intelligent and
willing to learn because of the enabling environment provided by tertiary
institutions abroad.
“The 21st century is driven by
innovation and competitiveness.
“So, lowering the entering level into
tertiary institutions will further contribute to reducing the productivity and peak
performance of young people seeking admission into the country’s higher
institutions of learning.”
He, however, said that the challenge of
the tertiary institutions in Nigeria was not in the prospects of entering, but
largely dependent on the numerous challenges within the various institutions.
Obasi decried the high level of
inconsistencies in policy formulation and implementation in the educational
sector.
He called on government to mainstream
and benchmark global best practices in educational policy formulation and
implementation.
He said that as critical stakeholders in
the educational sector, the student body would vehemently resist the review.
Obasi urged government to maintain
status quo and endeavour to conduct a comparative study and analysis of
policies from other climes that supports functional learning.
However, Dr Yusuf Lawal, Director of
Test Administration of the board, while addressing the group, said JAMB was
ready to look at some of the issues.
Lawal explained that the cut-off marks
were unanimously decided by stakeholders at its policy meeting on Aug. 22 in
Abuja.
He added that JAMB would put some of the
issues on a roundtable on re-engineering to reduce some of the cost in
admission fees.
“For the cut-off point, JAMB is a
clearing house for tertiary institutions. The set up of the board is not to
take over process or mandate of the tertiary institutions.
“It was the tertiary institutions that
met and that we should not dissipate energy on publicity, multiplicity of exam
and multiplicity of admission.
“We are already looking at how we can
reduce application fee of the coming year,” he said.
Lawal, however, said that it was not
mandatory that everybody who scored 120 would be given admission but rather
admission would be dependent on available courses in the tertiary institutions.
JAMB had on Aug. 22 reduced university
cut-off to 120, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education to 100 at a policy
meeting with the Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts of higher institutions
in the country.
NAN reports that Prof. Is-haq Oloyede,
Registrar, JAMB, had at the policy meeting of the stakeholders of tertiary
institutions in Abuja disclosed the reduction of cut off mark to 120. (NAN)
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