JAMB cancels UTME cut-off marks

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on Tuesday, cancelled general cut-off marks for admission into tertiary institutions and allowed institutions freedom to set their individual minimum benchmark for admission.

The board took the decision at the 2021 policy meeting with stakeholders which was held virtually and chaired by the minister of education, Adamu Adamu.

Speaking during the meeting, the registrar of JAMB, Is-haq Oloyede disclosed that some universities such as the University of Maiduguri proposed 150, Usman Dan Fodio University Sokoto proposed 140, Pan Atlantic University proposed 210, University of Lagos 200, Lagos State University 190, Covenant University190, Bayero University Kano, 180 among others.

On the deadline for the closure of admissions, the stakeholders resolved to allow the ministry to decide, as they could not agree on the December 31, 2021 deadline for all public institutions and January 31, 2022 for all private institutions.

Read Also: JAMB mulls postponement of 2021 UTME/DE due to NIN

Stakeholders also adopted the 2021 admission guidelines, which provide that all applications for part time or full time programmes to degree, NCE, OND, and others must be posted only through JAMB.

The stakeholders also approved that for Direct Entry, (DE), the maximum score a candidate can present is 6 and the minimum is 2 or E, as required by law.

Speaking on other admission criteria, they agreed that the candidate’s credentials must be uploaded on the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) where candidates accept the offer of admission as approved by JAMB.

They insisted that the 2021 admissions will be conducted only through CAPS, and no institution is allowed to admit candidates without uploading their details on CAPS. They said if candidates have not accepted an offer, the institution can change the candidate after informing JAMB.

The meeting also resolved that every institution should maintain its own minimum score as approved by the policy meeting.

JAMB registrar, Oloyede further disclosed that for 2021/2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, the board is introducing two new subjects: computer studies and physical and health education, bringing to a total of 25 subjects.

Speaking on the 2020 admissions, Oloyede said out of the 956,809 admission spaces in the 962 higher education institutions in the country, about 600,000 have so far been admitted.

While stating that there are many admission spaces that have not been filled up in several courses due to lack of qualified candidates, Oloyede said private universities in the country were only able to admit 36,381 candidates out of the 120,938 spaces available to them.

Declaring the policy meeting open, minister of education, Adamu, commended JAMB for introducing use of National Identification Number (NIN), in the registration process for UTME.

Represented by the permanent secretary, federal ministry of education, Sonny Echono, the minister said the use of NIN drastically reduced examination malpractice in the 2021 exam, adding that the West African Examination Council (WAEC), will also follow similar path by adopting mandatory use of NIN.

“I am enthused that the last examination recorded the lowest the lowest cases of examination irregularities in the history of the board because those who will normally have exploited the weak links through biometrics infractions had been effectively check-mated with the introduction of NIN by JAMB.

“It is gratifying that the WAEC has decided to follow the path of using NIN to curb examination malpractices. The ministry is presently considering other ways of using the NIN to uncover some other admission irregularities and all perpetrators including their collaborators in the institutions would be made to face the consequences. ”

On illegal admissions being conducted by some tertiary institutions, the minister expressed concerns that the government’s directive that all admissions should be done through JAMB’s Central Admissions Processing System, CAPS, is being violated.

He directed JAMB to furnish government with the list of affected institutions for necessary punishments.

He said: “It is saddening that despite the clear directives at previous policy meetings some institutions still illegally admitted candidates outside CAPS. I consider such act a direct affront on the system and appropriate sanctions shall be applied on those found to have been in such disruptive act.

“Similarly, any institution that issued admission letter to candidates outside CAPS will be punished for such gross indiscipline and fraud.

“The consequence of admissions conducted outside of CAPS is grievous. It subjects the candidates to gloom future as the nemesis of illegal admission awaits them at the completion of study when it will be impossible to take full advantage of the acquired candidates.

“As a demonstration of our resolve, I have directed JAMB to bring forward for appropriate sanctions; the list of all institutions involved in the violation of the directive of government which was personally conveyed by me at the 2018 policy meeting in Gbongan, Osun State.”