JAMB NGO applauds FG for Post- UTME

Soweto said that the cancellation was a right step in
the right direction, as it would go a long way in
relieving parents the financial burden associated with
such examination every year.
An NGO, Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has
described the recent cancellation of the conduct of the
post-UTME by the Federal Government as a relief to
parents and candidates.
The National Coordinator of the group, Mr Hassan
Soweto, said this in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
Soweto said that the cancellation was a right step in
the right direction, as it would go a long way in
relieving parents the financial burden associated with
such examination every year.
He said that candidates should be granted direct
access to institutions of their choice on presentation
of their qualifying certificates and proof of having sat
for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination
(UTME).
"I think government has done the right thing by
cancelling this post-UTME. "t was exploitative and
therefore, a kind of financial burden on the parents.
"However, I think the development is also a wake- up
call for the Federal Government to address identified
lapses in the conduct of the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board (JAMB) in organising UTME.
"This will ensure that results from such examination
will be held in high esteem,’’ he said.
Soweto said that there was an urgent need for
government to provide more tertiary institutions,
provide necessary facilities as well as upgrade the
existing ones.
"Actually the major challenge facing most of our
tertiary institutions today is the issue of carrying
capacity.
"The argument, therefore, is that there might not be
enough space to accommodate majority of candidates
that qualified at the UTME and that for me, is one
major reason for the post-UTME.
"So for this cancellation of the post-UTME to be
effective, government must wake up to its
responsibility in providing quality access to tertiary
education,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the Federal Government had
announced cancellation of the conduct of post- UTME
at the recent Joint Policy meeting to decide cut off
marks for candidates seeking placements into tertiary
institutions, The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu
Adamu, however advised that institutions were at
liberty to conduct screening to select their candidates.
The minister also warned that institutions that go
against the directive would be sanctioned.
Adamu also urged all institutions that had already
collected fees from candidates for the conduct of the
examination under any guise, to return same to such
students with immediate effect.
Meanwhile, heads of universities had been meeting
with the government in an attempt to come up with
standing guidelines for the screening of candidates for
admission for the 2016/2017 academic session.