JAMB’s Cut-off Marks Will Lower Education Standards – Group
BY AMOS TAUNA, KADUNA – United Nigerian Youth Forum (UNYF), on Wednesday rejected the reduction of cut-off marks for admission into tertiary institutions in the country by the Prof. Ishaq Olayede-led Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The Youth Forum noted that the reduction in cut-off marks for the 2017/2018 academic session by JAMB would greatly affect students’ performance at all levels of education in the country.
“We reject in totality the pronouncement on cut off mark for 2017/2018 academic session by JAMB Registrar. 120/100 marks for universities and polytechnic, as cut off, out of 400 marks further shows the level of decay in our educational system, which represents 30 and 25 per cent respectively,”
A statement by the National President of the UNYF, Abdulsalam Muhammad Kazeem, said if the unwarranted reduction in cut-off marks is allowed to stay, it would further promote and increase the level of lack of seriousness from 20 to 78 per cent in a country that is craving for education advancement and national development.
Kazeem further said; “While we appreciate the efforts of Prof. Ishaq Olayede, the Registrar of JAMB, in exposing the high level of corruption that was practised in the Agency under the watch of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by remitting the sum of N5 billion for the year 2017 alone, against N200m over 16 years of JAMB’s establishment, lowering the qualification entry mark into our institutions is not in tandem with new global realities, in terms of educational standard as it will lead to the admission of unqualified candidates into our tertiary institutions.
“It will further show that Nigeria does not give regards to excellence. With this development, the struggle to salvage public education must be linked with the struggle to do away with this unholy pronouncement by the JAMB registrar.
“The allocation to the educational sector for 2017 is less than 10 per cent. We passionately appeal to ASUU again to please go back to classes, because public institutions belong to the children of the masses.”
Accordingly, the Forum called on the federal government to give education the needed attention adding that if this is done, it will help in the areas of infrastructure, conducive learning environment, research and teaching.
The Forum also called on Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provost of tertiary institutions to immediately withdraw any form of tuition fee increment be it lab fee, registration fee, bank charges, maintenance fee or fee in any form within 72 hours, stressing that most of the administrators of the learning institutions enjoyed free, functional, qualitative education and even foreign scholarships during their days.
“A free, functional and quality education is possible in Nigerian, only if we jointly fight for it and the time is now,” the forum added.
