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| Afe Babalola |
The founder of Afe
Babalola University Ado Ekiti, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), on Wednesday slammed
the Federal Government for reducing the cut-off mark for admission into
universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education for the
2017/2018 academic session.
The legal luminary described the reduction as violence to
the university system and a major setback to quality education in the country.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board announced on
Tuesday the reduction of cut-off marks for candidates seeking admission into
Nigerian universities to 120 and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education
in the country.
But Babalola, in a statement, said he was worried that the
decision was taken without due consideration for its implication on the quality
of education in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
“What is the whole essence of reducing cut-off marks for
admission to as low as 120 for universities and 100 for polytechnics,
monotechnics and colleges of education? Will such an action enhance or reduce
the quality of education?
“Will it give international recognition to the degrees
awarded by the Nigerian universities which, in any case, are already being
questioned? Is the reduction a deliberate ploy to make things worse?” Babalola
quizzed.
The senior advocate said the caveat by JAMB that each
university had the right to set its own standard did not help matters, adding
that “it portrays us all as not having an acceptable limit for setting standards.”
He, therefore, called for an urgent education summit which
he suggested should be attended by stakeholders of higher education
institutions to address the problems.
The statement partly read, “Are we now saying there will be
no uniform standards in our tertiary education in this country? Is the
government or its agencies encouraging double or multiple standards?
“I do hope that those behind this reduction are aware that
even candidates who pass the UTME at 180 and above now find it difficult and
tasking to get admission into Nigerian universities because there are more
qualified candidates than the spaces available and because of the paucity of
facilities in the existing universities.
“It must be appreciated that even the former 180 cut-off
mark is less than 50 per cent of the total JAMB marks. As I said earlier, a minimum of 50 per cent was regarded and
acknowledged as pass mark in elementary schools in those days and now JAMB is
recommending 120, a mere 30 per cent of the total score of 400.”
But the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has insisted
that pegging the minimum cut-off benchmark for admission at 120 for
universities and 100 for polytechnics, will improve access to education.
This is just as he said that the latest admission cut-off
mark, the lowest in the history of the examination body, is a collective
decision of JAMB as well as vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts of colleges of education.
Oloyede, who also
noted that the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination was not an
achievement test, said this on Wednesday during an interview with one of our
correspondents in Lagos.
He said,” What makes a candidate qualified for examination
is not the UTME, it is the O’Level. There was no time in the last 10 years that
we have filled 70 per cent of our quota. We have never filled 50 per cent quota
for Physics in the last 10 years. Yet we are paying lecturers.
“What we have done is to put everything in the table. There
is no pass or fail grade in the UTME.”
PUNCH
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