The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cut-off

  • ‘Cultists’ cut off corps member’s hand

    Suspected cultists on Sunday attacked youth corps members’ lodge at Angalabiri community, Sagbama Local Government of Bayelsa State.

    The hoodlums were said to have cut off a corps member’s left hand.

    The victim, Luntis Julius from Taraba State, was reportedly attacked with a machete.

    The hoodlums were said to have robbed the corps members of laptops and phones.

    The Nation learnt that the incident, which occurred about 2:30a.m., caused panic among corps members serving in Sagbama Local Government.

    A corps member, who spoke in confidence, lamented constant attacks by armed youths.

    He said: “We are at the mercy of hoodlums. Female corps members are harassed on a daily basis.”

    Recently at a stakeholders’ workshop organised by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the Coordinator, Mrs. Loto Bolade, implored employers of corps members to put facilities in place to address their security and welfare.

    She said: “Corps members are your children during the one year they are posted to your establishments. It is your responsibility to give them accommodation with security, the same you give to your children.”

    Police spokesman Butswat Asinim confirmed the attack. He said it is a case of burglary.

    Asinim said the hoodlums stole the corps members’ belongings and attacked one of them with a machete.

    He said the police arrested two of the suspects, adding that investigations were on to nab others.

  • Cut-off conundrum

    Cut-off conundrum

    •Stakeholders in universities’ admission must be more honest

    The storm of controversy that erupted across Nigeria after the announcement of 120 as the cut-off mark for admission into universities by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is symbolic of the problems that have come to dominate the vexed question of tertiary admission procedures in the country.

    At its policy committee meeting of August 21 and 22, 2017, the board announced cut-off marks of 120 for universities, 100 for polytechnics and monotechnics, and 110 for innovation enterprise institutes.

    According to the Executive Secretary of JAMB, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the decision was arrived at with the consent of the heads of tertiary institutions who were present at the meeting and represented an attempt to halt “under-the-table” admissions, whereby candidates who scored below recommended cut-off marks were admitted into tertiary institutions. He also explained that admitting institutions were free to set their own cut-off marks above what had been recommended.

    The widespread criticism which greeted the announcement was a logical reaction to the obvious lowering of standards implied in the current cut-off marks. In the 2015-2016 and the 2016-2017 academic sessions, cut-off marks were set at 180 for universities and 150 for polytechnics and monotechnics. The reduction to 120 for universities and 100 for polytechnics and monotechnics represents 30 per cent and 25 per cent of all available marks respectively – a clear failure by most educational assessment standards.

    JAMB’s argument is that the new cut-off marks would eliminate illegal admissions. Yet, some 17,160 candidates who scored below the cut-off mark were allegedly admitted into universities during the 2016-2017 academic session. Universities implicated in this practice are said to appeal to JAMB to regularise such illegal admissions years after they were carried out. Why would the board collude with institutions to undermine procedures that all had previously agreed to? And why is lowering standards across the board the best way to prevent such unethical practices in future?

    Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are as guilty of bad faith as JAMB. The policy committee meeting was attended by the executive heads of all universities, polytechnics and monotechnics. What were they doing when the new cut-off marks were agreed upon, only to voice loud disagreement after they were announced? It is instructive that, noisy as they were in expressing their opposition, not one tertiary institution has come out to challenge JAMB’s accusation of their perpetration of under-the-table admissions.

    Apparently, JAMB’s decision to computerise the cut-off process as well as its warning that it would not regularise any admission that did not follow due process again, made most of the representatives of higher institutions at the meeting to change their mind and reduce the cut-off mark to 120. If JAMB is able to stick to its new decision and a high cut-off mark is adopted, the computer would not accept anything below that.

    In essence, Nigeria is presented with an anomaly of complex proportions: the promotion of cut-off marks which promote mediocrity instead of excellence; tertiary institutions claiming to reject such cut-off marks while surreptitiously admitting candidates who score below them without sanction by JAMB.

    The posturing and hypocrisy on all sides is particularly distasteful when it is remembered that the cut-off marks are only specified minimum scores, with admitting institutions being free to determine higher cut-offs for themselves. This has indeed, been the case for universities like the Universities of Ibadan and Lagos, and Obafemi Awolowo University, which have traditionally set 200 marks for their respective cut-offs, even when the JAMB cut-off was 180.

    This unedifying and unnecessary drama once again demonstrates why some people have questioned the continued relevance of JAMB. In spite of the board, tertiary institutions still set their own cut-off marks and conduct post-UTME tests for candidates seeking admission.

    JAMB must reassert itself to continue to be relevant. A situation where tertiary institutions are able to repeatedly admit candidates whose scores fall below its cut-offs and get JAMB to ultimately approve such illegal admissions, makes the board more or less a toothless bulldog.

    An efficient and equitable tertiary admissions process is vital to the development and growth of Nigeria. As the principal conductor in this regard, JAMB’s role must ensure that it facilitates admissions procedures to the benefit of all.

  • JAMB defends low minimum cut-off marks

    JAMB defends low minimum cut-off marks

    •’Varsities free to admit candidates with higher scores’

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has defended the pegging of 120 as minimum cut-off marks for university admission.

    The decision, which was reached at a stakeholders’ policy meeting in Abuja, has generated controversy with many universities rejecting the marks.

    JAMB’s Head of Information Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement on Monday  in Abuja, said the board would not be deterred and would continue to support policies that would bring Nigeria’s education out of the woods.

    He explained that previous cut off marks were never strictly followed by most institutions.

    Dr. Benjamin said most universities failed to fill their admission quota in the last 10 years.

    The statement reads: “The much trending controversy over the just released cut off marks for 2017 admission exercise by stakeholders at the policy meeting is quite unnecessary.

    “All Heads of tertiary institutions were requested to submit their cut off benchmark to the board which will then be used for the admission. And these benchmarks once determined cannot be changed in the middle of admission exercise.

    “Again, it is necessary to explain that the 120 mark does not in any way suggest that once you have 120 then admission is sure for you. Institutions will admit from the top to the least mark.

    “We are now starting the actual monitoring of adherence to admissions guide lines, cut off marks inclusive. The cut off marks being branded by the public as previous cut off marks were never strictly followed by most institutions.

    “The board will equally ensure that it correct all anomalies existing, especially as regards the powers of institutions to make pronouncements on admissions and other related matters affecting the institutions.”

    According to him, institutions in the past went behind to admit candidates with less cut-off marks, while also accusing some institutions of admitting candidates without JAMB results.

    “Institutions were going behind to admit candidates with far less with others admitting candidates who never sat for JAMB. This act to say the least is very distasteful and damaging to our national data and identity.

    “Unfortunately, the public has been kept away from this fact for such a long time and now that we are saying it the way it is and working to address it, the public is criticising us using non existing parameters that were only announced and not followed.

    “In years past, admissions were done with worst cut off marks. We are determined and ready to correct all these with the 2017 exercise. The Board has designed a Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) to check back door admission and other unwholesome practices associated with admission.

    “We are sure that the system will bring out the good in us as it will also make provision for candidates to track their admission. This empowers them to raise queries if a candidate they have better scores and other prerequisites are admitted which CAPS will not allow anyway.  This is the inclusiveness and transparency that education needs,” he added.

     

  • JAMB: Cut-off or cut down?

    SIR: Joint Admission and Matriculation Board- JAMB which was established by an act of 1978 and subsequently amended in 1989 and 1993 is charged with the responsibility of conducting and administering examinations into the country’s higher institutions of learning. It is no news that in the past 39 years of its operation, it has midwifed millions into universities, polytechnics, mono-technics and colleges of education across the country but what is recently making the news is the newly released cut down on the cut-off point for admission in 2017/2018 session.

    The development which has crashed the cut-off point for university from 180 announced last year to 120, also pegged polytechnics and enterprising institutions at 100 and 110 respectively.

    The policy has certainly begged for more questions than answers. What actually has gone awry between last year and now? What does the new regime seek to address?

    To me, whittling down of the criterion for admission this way does not show a positive sign of improvement in the education sector. In any form of examination where less than 50% is considered a pass mark, it is only a way of saying you have tried but not good enough to proceed further. Seeking higher education is a proof of having acquired sufficient training above ordinary level of studies and a further reduction in entrance requirement for such pursuit is not a way of encouraging hard-work and enterprising spirit among our young brains.

    Although JAMB says that institutions can use their discretion to raise their cut-off points above its recommendation but the underlying issue here, which is also quite disturbing, is the fact that, this has opened the way for  both intelligent and mediocre students to be at the  same pedestal struggling for admission. Also, it would be easier for the money bags to buy spaces for their children or wards.

    Also worrisome, is the restoration of the post-UTME which was banned last year to the admiration of ordinary Nigerians who accused some institutions of skyrocketing fees for such tests beyond their reach. Though the minister has put a caveat that such fees should not exceed N2,000, it does not mean that some institutions would not still  find away to extort money from desperate admission seekers.

    If one may ask again, what really informed this reduction? Has the quality of education or learning dropped? If not for anything else, the advent of internet and its accessibility has made researches and learning much easier and more effective. Now with internet, a student can browse a whole lot of information in almost all fields of studies in the comfort of his room without having to consult any library. Though the board was quoted as saying that this was done to reflect the global agitation in dynamic educational policy but one finds this postulation rather ridiculous since the policy has not addressed the avalanche of issues plaguing our education at that level. For instance, the current difficulty candidates face in gaining admission as it is reported that every year only about 15% of applicants are successful owing to factors such as limitation  in institutions’ carrying capacity, deficit in  basic facilities, paucity in public funding, curriculum related challenges and catchment area based admission. This oscillatory movement around cut-off point, year in year out is not helping the system.

    No examination should be conducted with a view to passing all the candidates. Therefore, JAMB should evolve a more pragmatic and forward looking method of assessment. As the minister of education admitted that the former policy which has just been rescinded was a mistake, let us hope that this one too is not going to be even a bigger mistake.

     

    • Itaobong Offiong Etim,

    Calabar.

  • Admission: Federal University Gusau sets 170 as cut-off marks

    Admission: Federal University Gusau sets 170 as cut-off marks

    The Federal University Gusau (FUGUS) has announced 170 as minimum mark for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) cut-off marks for admission into the University for the 2017/2018 academic session.

    The Information Officer of the University, Malam Umar Usman disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Saturday.

    Usman said that the university management had arrived at the decision to set 170 as minimum cut-off marks after getting statistics on the candidates who applied for admission into the institution.

    The Information Officer added that the 170 was arrived at after getting a statistic that most of the candidates who applied for admission into the University scored 120 and above in their JAMB exams.

    He said the university was only given a quota to admit 1,500 students through JAMB and Direct Entry for the coming academic session.

    According to him, over 5,000 applicants applied for admission into the University.

    “If we will stick to the 120 minimum cut off marks given by the JAMB, majority of applicants who are going to attend the University’s aptitude test for the admission will not get it.

    “We decided to minimize the difficulty by raising our points to 170 so that most of those that will pay for post UTME in the university will get the admission,” he said.

    He noted that the University also run Pre-degree programme in Science, Art and Social Science based courses which would also be considered in the admission to make up the 1, 500 required students for the session.

    Usman said the university is soliciting more assistance from well-to-do individuals and private organisations to provide more infrastructure that would make JAMB increase the quota given to the institution.

    He said that for the admission quota to be increased there must be adequate structures and facilities in place.

    NAN reports that JAMB had on Tuesday announced 120 as cut-off marks for admission into Nigerian Universities for the 2017/2018 session while 100 marks was for Colleges of Education and Polytechnics. (NAN)

  • JAMB, VCs peg university admission cut-off at 120

    JAMB, VCs peg university admission cut-off at 120

    … Post-UTME cancellation a mistake – Minister

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, in collaboration with Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts of higher institutions in the country, on Tuesday, pegged the minimum cut-off mark for admission into universities at 120.

    They also adopted 100 as the minimum cut-off marks for admissions into polytechnics.

    No higher institution is expected to go below these minimum cut-off marks.

    The decision was unanimously reached by stakeholders at a combined policy meeting on admissions into universities, polytechnics and other higher institutions in Nigeria, held in Abuja on Tuesday.

    This is against the 180 cut-off mark adopted last year.

    The stakeholders also agreed that admission into first choice universities would close on October 15, while December 15 was set as the closure for second choice admission by institutions.

    JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said universities, with this decision, would not go below the minimum 120 cut-off points adopted by the meeting.

    Prof. Oloyede called for the adoption of flexible cut-off marks for admission processes by higher institutions in the country.

    He said: “What JAMB has done is to recommend. We will only determine the minimum, whatever you determine as your admission cut-off mark is your decision.

    “The Senate and academic boards of universities should be allowed to determine their cut-off marks.

    In his remarks, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, admitted that the Federal Government’s ban on post – UTME was a mistake.

    The minister said the government banned the conduct of post-UTME because the examination had become an avenue for corruption in some higher institutions.

    Adamu, who encouraged higher institutions to conduct aptitude tests for candidates seeking admission, pegged the fee for the test at N2,000.

    He said: “I must restate this administration’s zero tolerance for corruption and zero tolerance for exploitation. Because in line with this and with the best intention that I announced the cancellation of the post UTME las year.

    “At that time it had become an avenue for exploitation and it was a burden for many parents. However, following that cancellation, some institutions opted for SSCE and this led to faking and falsification of results and the inflation of grades and this led to reconsideration of the exercise.

    “Among other reasons, this has now forced me to revisit the issue. Last year and I take full responsibility, I made a mistake. Now I am going to take back what I said. The decision to cancel post-UTME was a mistake.

    “Rather what you should seem to do is to conduct an aptitude test and the fee from the exercise must not exceed N2,000 and the exercise itself must be corruption free.”

  • JAMB registrar seeks higher institutions to decide cut-off marks

    JAMB registrar seeks higher institutions to decide cut-off marks

    Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar  Is-haq Oloyede yesterday stressed the need to allow tertiary institutions to decide their cut-off marks.

    He argued that a situation where universities, polytechnics and colleges of education are subjected to the same cut-off marks was no longer tenable because it prevents the institutions from admitting candidates of their choice.

    Prof. Oloyede, in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its Head of Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, noted that institutions should be allowed to determine the kind of candidates they want to admit.

    “The uniformity of cut-of marks doesn’t make any sense when colleges and polytechnics admit for National Certificate of Education (NCE) and diplomas while universities admit for degrees yet we subject them to the same cut-off marks, thereby starving these tier of institutions from admitting candidates, who if not engage may likely become easy prey to social vices.

    “This means that if a university want 250 as minimum cut-off marks, why not and if another want less so is it. If a polytechnic like Yaba Tech wants 250 as cut-off marks, let them admit and if Gboko Polytechnic in Benue State, where I come from want less than 200, let them admit.

    “Institutions should be known for their individual quality and not collective standard. This will foster positive competition for the overall good of our tertiary institutions,” he said in the statement.

    He expressed worry over the class opportunities as it affects the distribution of admission resources.

    Prof. Oloyede said he was deeply concerned over the fact that most policies were geared towards accommodating the interest of the elite only and leaving the children of the poor to suffer unjustly.

    He said: “The rich have multiple opportunities which include going abroad for studies while the poor only have the opportunity of struggling for the scarce spaces here.