The Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan (UI), Prof Idowu Olayinka, has said Federal Government’s decision to lift the ban on post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening by universities has enhanced the quality of intakes and graduates of the premier university.
He described the decision as the best thing to happen to the nation’s tertiary education in recent times.
Olayinka said the conduct of Post-UTME had been validated by a scientific study conducted by researchers at UI.
The vice chancellor said there was an unimaginable discrepancy between the scores of candidates and their performances at the end of their first year when UI was using only JAMB scores.
Olayinka, who addressed reporters yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, noted that some candidates, who were admitted with high JAMB scores, were asked to withdraw from the university after their first year because of poor performance.
He noted that since the conduct of the post-UTME screening, the percentage of those graduating with Second Class Upper had increased while those asked to withdraw had reduced.
The vice chancellor said 328 out of the 408 students recently asked to withdraw from the university were in the 2016/2017 set, which did not undergo the post-UTME screening due to Federal Government’s ban on the exercise.
Olayinka urged the Federal Government to allow its policy formulation to be guided by empirical research.
He said: “Our decision at the university to have another level of test after JAMB examination was borne out of our experience over the years on the quality of students admitted to the university. When UI was admitting solely on JAMB scores, unimaginable discrepancies were observed in the JAMB scores of candidates and their performance in their first year.
“We found candidates with high JAMB scores of over 250 being asked to withdraw from the university at the end of the first year on account of very poor performance. Since the 2002/2003 session, when the percentage withdrawal hit an all-time high of 12 per cent, the percentage has been dropping to as low as 1.9 per cent recorded in the 2014/2015 session. The quality has also reflected in the class of students at the end of the first year.
“The percentage of students that were in the Second Class honours (Upper Division) category and above increased from 17.9 per cent in the 2003/2004 session to 41.1 per cent in the 2014/2015 session. The experience at the University of Ibadan is typical of the situation in institutions where post-UTME tests were conducted.
“What we have now in the university system are students who are qualified to be in universities and who have the intelligence to withstand the rigours of academic work. That 408 are being expelled from UI further lent credence to the credibility of UI model of screening.
“Possibly, the more qualified would have passed the test and gained admission rather than those with high JAMB scores having an edge over those with low JAMB. A study conducted by some academics on this has been published in the Ibadan Journal of Social Sciences. In other words, policies ought to be driven by research, not on political considerations or sentiments.”
