SCRAPPING POST- UTME TESTS
It is a decision well taken, argues Kingsley Bulus
Education Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, gladdened the hearts of thousands of Nigerian students and parents while also ridding the nation’s tertiary education sector of a seemingly entrenched exploitative anomaly when he recently debunked the rationale for post-UTME screening by universities and effectively scrapped the policy. “As far as I am concerned, the nation has confidence in what JAMB is doing, the universities should not be holding another examination and if the universities have any complaints against JAMB, let them bring it and then we address it,” the minister declared with finality. This corrective decision which reflects the consensus of views among educationists could not have come at a better time and is a strong indication of the minister’s commitment to leaving a legacy of positive change in the education sector.
The policy of post-UTME examinations by universities has actually been abused so much by universities since its introduction in 2004 that its retention by government had for long been a disservice to the student-victims of the policy and blight on the tertiary education sector. It is curious that previous educationist-ministers of education were unable to detect such a flaw in the admission process into our universities, let alone taking corrective measures. It is evident that the retention of the policy beyond its usefulness must have been at the behest of certain vested interests with ulterior motives yet influential in the administration of the nation’s education policies. Apparently, it takes a minister from outside the education cabal to show the red card and uphold the national interest.
Recall that the post-UTME policy was mooted in 2004 by the National University Commission and vice- chancellors as a strategy for ensuring that admission seekers attain minimum cognitive competence in the subjects relevant to their discipline and to test their competence in written and oral English, critical thinking and ability to present ideas in a logical sequence. They hinged their proposal on the notion that JAMB’s UTME fell short of these desirable goals. By the time the policy was eventually approved after serious contention it was conditional on a maximum charge of N1, 000 for candidates while the universities were required to use other test methods not employed by JAMB in screening the candidates, specifically oral interview and essays.
Alas, a few years after the commencement of post- UTME policy the universities stopped abiding by the approved policy and resorted to “self help” by conducting the same tests as JAMB, charging exorbitant fees above the approved limit and abandoning oral interviews and essay screening as the money-making mania overtook the university administrators who invited more than thrice their admission capacity for the post-UTME screening. Meanwhile, this shift to imposing unnecessary examinations spread into the senior secondary schools as teachers introduced various tests and examinations such that they spent more time dishing out hand-outs for sale to hapless students and coaching classes for a fee.
Against this background the courage and firmness with which Malam Adamu must have taken up the nuisance of post-UTME looms large and underscores the essence of patriotism and uprightness as best motivations for good governance and public service. The clear cut logic in the minister’s explanation for scrapping post-UTME shows that there was really no justifiable reason for retaining post-UTME, particularly after it had been deliberately derailed from its lawful objectives. It can also be deduced that JAMB as an institution must have been rendered helpless and irrelevant in its area of jurisdiction by the post-UTME cabal all these years despite engaging in a dubious duplication of JAMB-style UTME screening.
The minister’s decisive intervention in ending the post-UTME scam has also brought tremendous relief to parents and students alike from the psychological trauma of going through an additional period of uncertainty of admission even after JAMB success not to mention the economic torture of coughing out a plethora of fees and levies mischievously tied to all sorts of examinations and tests arbitrarily imposed.
Malam Adamu can therefore be described as a minister who is not only conversant with the challenges impeding progress in the education sector but also having the courage of his conviction to right the wrongs bedevilling the sector. A positive change agent could not be better defined and he deserves all the support of the hitherto silenced but patriotic educationists and academics in the country as he strives to move our education sector in the right direction.
THE POLICY OF POST-UTME EXAMINATIONS BY UNIVERSITIES HAS ACTUALLY BEEN ABUSED SO MUCH BY UNIVERSITIES SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION IN 2004 THAT ITS RETENTION BY GOVERNMENT HAD FOR LONG BEEN A DISSERVICE TO THE STUDENT-VICTIMS AND BLIGHT ON THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SECTOR