Ijeoma Okafor, not her real name, was denied admission to study Nursing/ Physiotherapy at the Lagos State University (LASU) in 2023 because she is not from the catchment area, despite getting all the required credentials.
Okafor scored 255 in her UTME, her O-level grade scores for the five compulsory subjects were 4Bs and 1A, her total aggregate was 73.8, and her admission status from the university was no admission.
She was devastated to see some other candidates who scored less in their UTME and aggregate grades given admission just because they were from the university’s catchment areas.
Joseph also shared his experience of how he was advised to change his state of origin to Rivers State, an educationally less developed state after he was denied admission into a federal university because of his state.
“I wrote JAMB in 2010, and applied to study Mass Communication in one of the federal universities, though I scored 238, I was not given admission, while my friend who scored 232 was given admission because he was from the catchment area. I really felt bad; because I believe that university education should be on merit and not birth,” he said.
The quota system and the catchment areas are federal government policies formulated to bridge the gap between the educationally developed states and the educationally less developed states.
Sequel to the enactment of these policies, the government established several universities across the country to create equal opportunity for all candidates.
However, despite the astronomical growth of the universities in the country, both the federal and the state governments have not been able to contend with the surging demand for university education, hence the adoption of the quota system and catchment area policies.
In Nigeria, admission is defined in areas of merit, catchment area and educationally less developed states (ELDS). Merit gets 45 per cent, 35 per cent is for the catchment area, while ELDS is 20 per cent.
Each university is localised within several states. Those states get 35 per cent of the admitted candidates. And 20 per cent goes to those from educationally less developed states.
By way of definition, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers.
Many stakeholders have expressed concerns that catchment areas and quota systems give rise to nepotism and favouritism which according to them are clogs to university education development.
They argue that universities being the highest level of education institutions should be tailored to thrive on merit when it comes to selecting students for admission.
Stanley Boroh, lecturer at the Federal University, Otuoke in Bayelsa State said that using merit and educationally less developed states as criteria for admitting students is a disservice to the university learning system in the country.
“This position for me is a disservice to our educational system. We shouldn’t kill our admission and recruitment process on the altar of nepotism. It is pertinent to note that federal character helps to promote inclusion but it is killing merit and promotes mediocrity oftentimes.
“We need to admit students based on merit and do the same for lecturers because lately we have so many students that are not fit and supposed not to be in school and this also applies to lecturers too,” he said.
Even if they want to do catchment, it should be 85 per cent, catchment 15 per cent, and educationally least developed states five per cent.
Michael Ukonu, a professor of journalism at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka also affirmed that merit will lead the country to its academic glory if adopted.
“Simply and in a straightforward way, there is nothing better than merit. But in Nigeria of today, many other factors make merit rather idealistic. Merit is what will lead us to academic glory,” he said.
Friday Erhabor, director of media and strategies at Marklenez Limited said he has issues with what is termed an educationally less developed state.
“We have been doing this for decades. At what point should the so-called educationally less developed state become educationally developed?
“If a state has enjoyed preference for over thirty years as educationally less developed, by now, it should be considered educationally developed and if it is not, then it means the preference is not working and should be scrapped,” he said.
Besides, Erhabor argues that it is not fair even to those considered educationally developed states.
“I am the son of a farmer from Edo State. I grew up in a house where my father was not educated so did not have the benefit of seeing books around me in the house.
“But because I am from Edo State, I am considered educationally advantageous to another person from Borno State whose father is a professor. The guy whose father is a professor from Borno State grew up in a house full of books. So how can I be more advantageous to that person?” he queried.
Experts believe that the right to education is one of the rights that confirm the dignity inherent in human beings and should not be discriminatory, especially at the tertiary education level.
Dayo Olawole, a parent, said adopting catchment areas as a means of admitting students to the university over those from other states is a preferential treatment that breeds nepotism, and favouritism and fuels mediocrity.
He argued that this is improperly compared to what is obtainable in many international universities where students are admitted on merits.
“Why would we adopt quota and catchment areas policy, after all, the students are going to work in the same labour market. Would there be a different labour market for the preferred ones?,” he queried.
Some of the educationally less developed states are Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.
