Recall that in July 2022, the Joint Admissions And Matriculation Board, JAMB, and heads of tertiary institutions in the country, fixed the minimum cut-off mark for admissions at universities at 140, while polytechnics and colleges of education have 100 as the minimum.
The decisions on the cut-off marks were reached after a heated session at the 2022 policy meeting on admissions to Degree, Nigerian Certificate Of Education (NCE), and National Diploma (ND) ongoing at the International Conference center.
The meeting which was presided over by the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, advised tertiary institutions to adopt a more flexible posture in the admission process, provided all actions were in compliance with the guidelines.
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See what he said;
”Just as in the previous admission exercise, the criteria still remain as approved and circulated. All institutions must therefore adhere strictly to them and all others prescribed by the regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board For Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Commission for colleges of education (NCCE), particularly with regards to approved quotas, ratios, and other specifications meant for improved quality, accountability, and equity”.
Check out some reactions on Twitter;
@theboyisgreat said, “Education becomes a joke when the president and APC President and APC Presidential candidate can’t even account properly for their certificate. We can’t continue like this”.
@officialfemii said, “All of this to favour the core northern states or what? I’m not sure though. But 140? This is madness o! A child could just go into an exam hall, sleep for 1 hour, and toy with the papers and still score 140. Is it not meager 140/400? Education in the mud”.
@Botoconsults said, “can you imagine? During my time I couldn’t get admission because I had 196 and cut off was 209 my generation eh”.
@doctorflowz said, “Jamb announcing 140 as cut off mark for university is a national embarrassment on our education system and an encouragement for students to be lazy with studies”.
@Onwudegupeters said, “This system is defective and ridiculous! It is a way of making money from parents. How can the cut-off mark for university be 140? Trust Nigerians, those who scored 140 and can pay the price will be admitted ahead of those who scored 259 without money! Rubbish”.
@braveyilk said, “The standard keeps going down like an aircraft that is bound for a crash. How did we fall for this law for God’s sake just to please those from a certain part of the country who have refused to upskill. They will drag everyone with them in no time. This union is not working”.
It is disheartening that the educational sector in Nigeria has lost its value, as regards the constant reduction of low cut-off mark for admission into tertiary institutions in the country. The immediate implication is that the educational system is not living up to expectations in the production of future leaders for the nation as garbage in equals garbage out.
If JAMB continued on this trajectory of lowering the cut-off marks, it is unfortunate that the country’s standard of education would continue to be eroded.
There is a popular saying that no society grows beyond its level of education. That is to say, no nation can properly develop, except with a well-developed quantitative and qualitative educational system.