The process for the 2018/2019 admission has already begun and candidates have been participating in its varied and different aspects to get admitted into the various tertiary institutions across the country.
Some schools like the University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State; Abia State University; Federal University, Lokoja and many more have already conducted the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination/screening for the prospective students.
However, the bill designed for a law to guide the conduct of matriculation examinations and admissions into tertiary institutions has been sitting in the Nigerian Senate for a long time. And now, its relevance is being questioned by post-UTME candidates, who are faced with an avalanche of unending ordeals in the hands of the universities in the country.
We do not support this, but at the same time government should fund our schools properly. Schools are resorting to making money from students, because they are not getting adequate funding from the government
The universal idea of JAMB is that the council will be responsible for determining matriculation requirements and conducting examinations, leading to undergraduate admissions into the universities, admission into the National Diploma and the Nigerian Certificate in Education courses, according to Subsection (2) (3) of the JAMB Act. As Expected, the council, the schools and their staff members should work closely to make this achievable. Mutual relationship, organisation and achievable results should be placed above personal interests to provide conducive system for the candidates.
But in Nigeria, this is not the case as more often than not, institutions, including the universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and others, are always the facilitators of the ordeals Post-UTME candidates go through in the process. For the institutions, the Post-UTME has become a cash cow, the easiest means to generate funds.
For the candidates, it is a challenging period. While some of the institutions operate computer-based examinations, others call it screening process and it’s conducted either physically or online. All these call to question the JAMB Act and the rationale for the Post-UTME in Nigeria.
CANDIDATES’ HARROWING EXPERIENCE
Rather than work harmoniously to achieve the goals of granting candidates admission, the Post-UTME and the screening exercise have become a means for schools, cyber cafes and banks to rip off prospective candidates and make excess profit.
Sadly, students and their parents are always the victims of such exploitation as the continuous disorganisation in post-UTME/screening process often affect them financially, health wise and academically. Many end up not gaining the admission into their preferred schools, after all.
For instance, all did not go well at the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, following the difficulties encountered by the candidates during the school’s just concluded post-UTME examination. The candidates had a hectic time obtaining the form and in writing the examination.
Deborah Onibele, who applied for a course in the school, expressed pains and regret over what she went through just to register and sit for the Post-UTME.
She said, “It was very stressful. The processing of the admission began on a very strenuous note as we had to contend with the problem of lack of network at the bank. We had to return home and come back the next day. The second day, we were told to go and do Remita and by the time we generated that and returned to the bank, there had been a very long queue. It was as if we were waiting to deposit money. After a long wait, we were eventually registered. After that, I went to the cyber cafe again and that’s another round of expenses. Eventually, we got the exam date.
“On the day of my examination, I was supposed to write it at 8:30 am, but even as at 9am, we had yet to start. It was very stressful, no seat number; you will just go like that. It was a computer based examination. We answered five subjects, ten questions for each subject making fifty questions in all.”
Just like Onibele, Victor Paul, who wrote his Post-UTME at OOU, paid twice before he could register for the examination. Eventually, he had to write the examination in the most unconducive atmosphere.
He lamented that despite acquiring the form from the school and not bank he had to still go through such challenging situation.
Recounting his ordeal, Paul told our correspondent, “When the form was out, it was a matter of debate on whether to register online or to go physically to obtain the form at the institution because a lot of people had to share the devastating experience of the portal breaking down during the process of registering and the money already paid online not refunded.
“So, to be on a safer side, I had to obtain the form at the institution, which cost me more than thrice the amount I would have paid if I had done the registration online. The form was N2000 and an extra charge of N500. But I ended up spending about N8,000. It also took me two days to obtain the form at the school, because of the large crowd of candidates, who also came to obtain the form. I would like to lay emphasis on the disorderliness experienced in the processing and sitting for the Post-UTME itself.”
With the increasing difficulties encountered by candidates sitting for the Post-UTME every year, the reason to question the JAMB Act becomes more obvious and tenable.
Another candidate, Olivia Eze, who sat for the Post-UTME at the Abia State University, expressed disappointment in the exercise, the conduct of which she noted had continued to deteriorate, instead of improving.
Eze said, “From my past experience till now, I was kind of disappointed in the conduct of the examination. It was scheduled for 8am, but it had not started as at 3pm. Some persons had problems with their optical mark recognition because the examination started late. They had to rush to cyber cafes to fix it, take passport, make photocopies and spending a lot more. Assuming they started early, they would have done it, but it was with a rush.
“So, the cyber cafes knew they needed it desperately and so exploited them. Apart from the money, the time wasted was also another issue. I wrote my examination with hunger and anger. I was hungry, but they did not allow us to go out to get something to eat. They kept us waiting for too long.”
Also, unable to hide his anger, Abraham Jackson, a Post-UTME candidate of the Federal University, Oye, Ekiti State, said he was duped because he had to pay two twice for a change of institution with an assumption that it did not process at the cybercafé the first time.
Jackson said, “I wanted to do a change of institution but I paid twice, I was duped. In an attempt to change from the University of Ilorin to Federal university, Oye Ekiti, I paid the first time, but they didn’t do it. After a week, they said it didn’t go; so I had to go to another café, where I paid again. The cafe told me that it was not registered and the school could not refund the money. Up till today, I have not got the N3000 back.
“Another challenge I faced was when I went to do the screening process online. We were supposed to do online screening, upload our documents online; that’s all. When I got to the cyber cafe, I paid them to do it, but to my surprise again, they said the school portal was not responding; that I should come back. I went back, it was the same thing. I had to go to another cafe, pay another money before the portal opened and I uploaded my files.”
PARENTS/STAKEHOLDERS KICK
Of course, the ordeals of the candidates are ultimately felt by the parents and guardians, who sponsor them financially and morally. Parents are forced to spend outside their budgets to ensure that their wards gain admission into their preferred institutions.
A parent and trader in Ogun State, Mr. Folorunsho Peter, said his daughter had written the Post-UTME in the past three years and in these years, he had spent not less than N15,000 on registration, cafe fees, transport expenses and more.
Peter questions the essence of JAMB, which he said is basically to see to the admission process of candidates into the universities and other tertiary institutions.
“I wonder why we need JAMB anymore, if we still have to go to the various schools for another round of examination. It is either JAMB is scrapped or the other, Post-UTME, is stopped,” he said.
Another parent, Mrs. Olabisi Matthew, however, said she would not have questioned the relevance of the exercise if not for the disorderliness, which usually attended its conduct and sometimes put candidates’ lives in danger.
He recounted his son’s ordeal when the young man went to sit for the Post-UTME at the Kogi State University, saying he almost lost his life in the process.
“My son had to join a long queue, but after he got exhausted and tired, he suddenly fainted and passed out. And even at the end of the day, he was never offered the admission,” he said.
post-utme NOW MEANS OF EXPLOITATION BY INSTITUTIONS – ASUU
Also displeased by the development, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, expressed regret that institutions now exploit the exercise as a means of generating funds.
“We have always spoken against exploitation of students, particularly with this post-UTME. What JAMB is doing is problematic for us. Post-UTME may be necessary, only that universities will have to improve on its conduct. JAMB is the main problem; until JAMB came on board, institutions were organising their admissions themselves.
“There is too much bureaucracy in JAMB and it is declaring profit. It should not be a profit-making organisation. It is unfortunate that students are being exploited, even with the policy that no school should charge more than N2000 for post-UTME. Institutions are trying to make up for the shortage of funds, which they need to run their u
niversities.
“We do not support this, but at the same time government should fund our schools properly. Schools are resorting to making money from students, because they are not getting adequate funding from the government.”
