An educationist, Dr. Oluwatosin Adebayo has on Friday called for the scrapping of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) entrance examination for prospective students seeking admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
Adebayo described JAMB as “a way of defrauding the masses” and an obstacle to tertiary education of millions of Nigerians.
Adebayo is the African Regional President of Scholarship Aids Initiatives, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that offers thousands of Nigerian students scholarship in tertiary institutions.
He spoke at the 2021 Stakeholders’ Forum and Presentation of Scholarship Awards to over 2,000 indigent admission seekers from the South-West region of the country.
The theme of the event was: “Higher Institutions Admission Crisis In Nigeria: Influencing Policies And Way Forward”.
Adebayo argued that, tertiary institutions must be allowed to implement their own standard of admitting qualified students, saying “every university has its own standard requirements that they use to secure admission, why are we still using unified examination, so why Jamb?
He insisted that, JAMB has lost its relevance since tertiary institutions still conduct their own entrance examinations for prospective students.
Adebayo lamented that, the purpose of JAMB had been defeated, accusing the Federal government of turning the board into a revenue generating agency which according to him has been defrauding Nigerians.
He said “My position about JAMB in this country is that it should be scrapped completely out of our system, there is no country in the world that uses unified examination to secure admission, I see JAMB system as a way of defrauding the masses.
“The people who brought education to us did not use unified examination, every university as it owns standard requirements that they use to secure admission, why are we still using unified examination, so why Jamb.
“Coupled with what the Registrar of Jamb recently said that, it not your score that will determine your gaining admission, so what is the essence of JAMB? It is better for JAMB to be completely scrapped and let the universities use their own way and their own system to secure, recruit or to admit students into their institutions”.
Speaking about the scholarship, Adebayo said the initiative was aimed at making tertiary education accessible to indigent Nigerians, saying the Initiative would pay 75 percent of the tuition fees of the beneficiaries while their parents pay the remaining 25 percent.
Adebayo disclosed that the NGO has established a tuition free university to accommodate indigent students with exceptional academic records.
He accused the government of not being serious with education, saying “It is saddened that the government doesn’t want the youths to be educated, the government is trying to discourage students from going to school that is why we are having all this crisis in the education sector.
“The mission of this organisation as a Non-Governmental Organisation is to make education become easy for the less privileged ones in the society by assisting students towards their career.
“Many brilliant and intelligent children are on the street today hawking, some are into some illegal activities due to financial crisis”, Adebayo said.
