JAMB Registration Fee becomes cumbersome, distorting and worrisome to average Nigerian – Lawmaker
Nigerian federal lawmakers appear set to reconsider extension of the validity period of results issued by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, for admission into institutions of higher learning in the country.
Platforms Africa reports that a lawmaker, Tolulope Akanda-Sadipe, representing Oluyole Federal Constituency in the House Representatives has canvassed that the one year duration of the validity of the result of the examination does not worth the trouble students go through in preparing and sitting for the examination as well as the financial burden of repeating the examination yearly.
A statement issued by the media aide to the lawmaker, Olamilekan Olusade stated that the bill tagged: “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (Establishment, etc.) Act, 2021 and Other Related Matters,” sought to amend the law establishing Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The lawmaker said that the law should be amended to increase the validity of UTME results to three years to make JAMB function better.
“According to him, “the current arrangement of one year validity period of JAMB results makes it less problematic for universities to offer admission to candidates with high scores ahead of those with lower scores.
“The new proposal will erode the practice of rewarding excellence because if, for instance, a student scores 235, but is unlucky to secure admission in the current year, such a student will have to be considered first for admission the following year even when there are fresh candidates who score far higher. How then do we intend to encourage students to aim at breaking previous records when they know that candidates with lower grades in the preceding year will be offered admission first?” Oyediran queried.
There are those who opined that the declining reading culture among students in the country will be further worsened if the proposal becomes a reality.
A school teacher, Mrs Judith Anele believes that any attempt to extend the validity of the JAMB results for admission into tertiary institution will further affect the culture of reading among the students.
She argued that the desire to pass examination ranks top among reasons students read nowadays, adding that allowing students the opportunity to use a UTME result in seeking admission for three years, will make them relax.
“As long as they (students) know that their results can be used to apply for admission for three years, they will just relax and forget about their studies probably until it dawns on them that they may have to re-sit for another examination or until they get admitted,” she said.
Others who opposed the proposal to increase the duration of the validity of JAMB results to three years argued that the idea is antithetical with the ideas behind the setting up of the examination body.
They argued that since UTME is a ranking examination rather than a qualifying examination, it only makes sense that the results issued by the body should only be valid for one academic session.
A parent, Mrs Baliqis Atere said that the idea behind the proposal to extend the validity of the examination results must have been influenced by lack of proper understanding of the purpose the UTME is meant to serve.
Her words: “We need to understand that UTME is different from Senior School Certificate Examinations, SSCE, conducted by the West African Examination Council, WAEC, and the National Examination Council, NECO. The results issued by these two examination bodies are what qualify students to aspire to seek admission into tertiary institutions while UTME result is used to rank students for admission since it is impossible to admit every candidate who applies for admission in a particular year.
“So, allowing students to use the result of a ranking examination for a period of three years will violate the rule of fairness because the standard of questions set in two or three different years are not always the same. I remember 10 or 15 years ago it was very unusual to see students scoring 300 and above marks in JAMB. But today, students score 300 and more in JAMB. This points to disparity in the standards of questions set by the examination body from time to time.”
But besides the the need to relieve parents the financial burden of having to register their wards for UTME every year, the stress of registering for the examination is yet another argument supporters of the new proposal are putting forward.
Following the inclusion of the National Identity Number, NIN, as part of the requirements for the registration for the examination, intending candidates for the examination have to undergo the stressful process of securing their NINs before facing the task of registering for the exam.
A parent, Mr. Nathaniel Eguaroje, said that it took his son three days before he finally registered for the examination.
