The abuse of quota system

By Edwin Azuka Eriye

SIR: The quota system and catchment areas are policies formulated by the federal government to bridge the gap between the educationally less developed states and the educationally developed ones.

Anterior to the enactment of these policies, government at all tiers established several academic institutions across the country to create equal opportunity for candidates.

In spite of the astronomical growth of academic institutions in Nigeria, both federal and state governments have not been able to successfully contend with the surging demand for university and polytechnic education, hence the adoption of quota system.

This adoption, however, is fast becoming a cliché as the quota system is now structured in a way to favour natives of particular states over others, who are equally Nigerians.

Student’s admission is the formal acceptance into a school or programme of study for which certain requirements must be met, and this is aimed at selecting the best from the pool of those qualified; hence, prospective students for admissions’ register and write Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) coordinated by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) after which some universities conduct internal screening for final selection and placement.

Read Also: Registration for 2020 UTME begins Jan. 13

Also, federal government’s guidelines for admissions into institutions of higher learning are based on source elements as academic merit determined by UME score, and 45% of students’ admissions allotted to it, while educationally less developed areas are given 20%, catchment areas have 25%, and 10%  at the discretion of the institution head.

How many of our institutions of higher learning play by the admission guidelines laid down by the federal government?

Thousands of bright admission seekers into institutions of higher learning have been denied admission owing to the fact that they belong to a particular ethnic group or bear a particular tribal name.

As it is, ethnicity is now a ghost requirement for admitting students into institutions of higher learning.

This practice has not only led many denied admission seekers into internet fraud and other criminal activities but has also rendered most of our federal institutions of learning under-enrolled, while others are over-populated thereby leading to under-utilization and over utilization of resources respectively.

Institutions of higher learning should admit its applicants based on the laid down guidelines of the quota system by federal government; this is necessary to promote inter-ethnic unity, harmony and social cohesion in the country.

• Edwin Azuka Eriye, Lagos.