 |
| Newly Proposed Calendar For 2015/2016 Session |
Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Post-UTME Scrapping; A Panacea Or A Conundrum?
Adeyeye Eyitayo
It is no longer a news that Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination popularly known as PUTME has been scrapped. It took the intervention of the Federal Government through the office of the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to put an end to the system, a development which is not unconnected to the fact that the process has been viewed by many to have lacked merit and has served as a means through which institutions exploit admission seekers to generate huge income.
Before the Post UTME exercise was scrapped there were universities charging as high as six to seven thousand naira for the admission exercise. An average tertiary institution records thousands of candidates sitting for Post UTME and perhaps if each candidate pays seven thousand naira for the exercise, is this not too much of our ivory towers? Even after candidates had gone through thick and thin to cough out the exorbitant charges, candidates are still not guaranteed admission. As a matter of fact, there are instances where some candidates could not sit for the Post UTME exams owing to financial constraints, hence blocking any chance of being admitted. It's believed that it was on this basis coupled with other things that formed the reasons why the programme was scrapped.
Even though, the scrapping of the Post UTME exercise as well as the introduction of the newly recommended admission screening exercise has been greeted with contentions, many believed that the decision was praise-worthy thinking that the new admission screening exercise would be the type that would avail the both the rich and poor fair admission opportunities. The new style of screening is more of a "result grading system" giving much importance to candidate's ordinary level (O’level) results coupled with UTME performance.
Taking a critical look at the newly introduced system, one would be forced to ponder if it is not the case of ‘pouring a new wine into an old bottle’. The non-extant Post UTME as meritless and exploitative as it was perceived to be by many, some now think it's still better if compared with the new admission screening exercise as the later involves a cumbersome and complex system, in which tertiary institutions would have to grade candidates’ O'level results as well as UTME results.
Another contention is that, the additional weight and importance given to O'level results by the new screening style is unwarranted. Reason being that, the bodies conducting these exams have had their images dented with issues of incompetence and ineffectiveness, making people doubt if there exams are still true tests of knowledge. Another unanswered question is whether the newly introduced system would not lead to a situation where candidates engage in several malpractices with an eye on its influence on their admission chances. This means that the 0'level result is not just a requirement for admission seekers but now a powerful determinant.
Some institutions, in compliance with the new directives, recently came up with their screening modus-operandi which entails pocket-tearing charges. Then why was post UTME scrapped? Was it not because of its exploitative nature?
A renowned University has the following as screening charges totaling the sum of 6,850 naira:
SCREENING FEE - N1,500
EPORTAL ACCESS CHARGE - N5,000
BANK CHARGE - N350
If candidates would still pay charges as high as this, has there been any change at all? Are these charges really relevant? Is this not tantamount to pouring a new whine into a new bottle? Do you think Post UTME shouldn't have been scrapped at all? Is its scrapping a panacea or a conundrum?
Adeyeye Eyitayo is a student of the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife and a member of the OAU Peeps Team
Monday, 25 July 2016
OAUTHC HRORBN Admission Exercise To End In August
The School of Health Information Management of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital has invited applications from qualified applicants into its Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN) programme.
According to a full page Advert on The Punch Newspaper sponsored by the Institution and duly signed by the Director of Administration and Secretary to the Management Board, completed application forms into Ordinary National Diploma and Higher National Diploma programmes is scheduled to come to an end by Wednesday 3rd August, 2016 while screening comes up on Wednesday 10th August, 2016.
Photo source: The Punch Newspaper
OAU Pre-degree Students To Start Final Exams Tomorrow
The Pre-degree Students of the Centre for Distant Learning, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife would commence their Second contact examinations tomorrow, Monday, 25th July, 2016. We at OAU Peeps hereby use this medium to wish the students all the best in their exams.
Online Screening For OAU Aspirants Extended Indefinitely
The Obafemi Awolowo University has hereby extended her ongoing Screening process indefinitely. According to a post on the portal, the new closing date would be made known on the portal.
Saturday, 23 July 2016
We Have Seen 3 Vice Chancellors & Yet To Be Matriculated - OAU Freshmen
"I have witnessed Omole, Salami and Elujoba's tenures and i have not even done my matriculation" one fresh student of OAU said.
Assuming the school was on, the academic calendar had scheduled last Thursday for the matriculation ceremony for the fresh students.
The fresh students resumed on the May 28 this year when the much embattled former Vice Chancellor, Professor Bamitale Omole was there. After spending less than a month, the students were sent home due to the crisis that came with the appointment of Omole's successor.
Recall, on June 6 this year, OAU Peeps News Agency reported that the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Professor Ayobami Salami was appointed the substantive 11th Vice Chancellor of OAU. However, his inability to resume due to the troubles of Workers' Unions forced President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the VC appointment processes for the institution and at the same time, dissolve the University's Council.
On Thursday, upon the directive of the President, the Village Chemist, Professor Anthony Elujoba was appointed by the Senate to act as the Vice Chancellor of the institution.
In all, between May and now, Obafemi Awolowo University students have lived through three different Vice Chancellors.
OAU Drops Out Of Nigeria's Top 10 In the Latest University Ranking
The openness ranking of World universities for the second half of 2016, within which less than 50 Nigerian universities were included has Harvard University (USA) coming first in the world as usual.
Nigeria's usual best university however dropped from the third position it occupied before to the 11th spot.
Below is the list of the top 30 Nigerian universities in the Webometrics 2016 Openness ranking for world universities. Their respective world ranks are those enclosed within brackets.
1. University of Nigeria, Nsukka. UNN (1433)
2. University of Ibadan, Ibadan. UI (1613)
3. University of Ilorin, Ilorin. UNILORIN (2114)
4. Covenant University, Ota. CU (2161)
5. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. UNIZIK (2173)
6. University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt. UNIPORT (2190)
7. University of Lagos, Lagos. UNILAG (2243)
8. University of Calabar, Calabar. UNICAL (2333)
9. University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. UNAAB (2364)
10. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. ABU (2372)
11. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. OAU (2473)
12. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. LAUTECH (2585)
13. University of Uyo, Uyo. UNIUYO (2655)
14. Federal University of Technology, Minna. FUTMINNA (2682)
15. University of Benin, Ugbowo. UNIBEN (2703)
16. Federal University of Technology, Akure. FUTA (2835)
17. Bayero University, Kano. BUK (2909)
18. Redeemer’s University, Mowe. RUN (2937)
19. Lagos State University, Ojo. LASU (2939)
20. Osun State University, OSU (3074)
21. University of Jos, Jos. UNIJOS (3173)
22. Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo. FUNAI (3242)
23. Rivers State University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt. RSUT (3295)
24. Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti. ABUAD (3330)
25. Landmark University, Omu-aran LU (3422)
26. Federal University of Technology, Owerri. FUTO (3423)
27. Enugu State University of Technology, Enugu. ESUT (3433)
28. University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri. UNIMAID (3465)
29. Federal University of Dutsin Ma, Dutsin-Ma (3478)
30. Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. MOUA (3515).
Although no Nigerian university was among the first 1000 in the world, University of Nigeria ranked highest of the Nigerian universities on the list, followed by University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin and Covenant University respectively.
Openness refers to the total number of pdf files of a university according to google. It relies on information (statistics) of web publications of a University for a Specific period of time; available on google scholar. It therefore based on volume of research articles published by a university.
The quantity of google scholarly articles a university has reveals how much of research is being conducted by the university; which is what openness ranking is all about – a university’s research output.
Openness rank is a part of the many indicators that make up several university rankings, others being excellence, presence and visibility; for Webometrics. Although it does not exactly specify the impact of the research papers a university has; the openness indicator however reveals the extent to which a school is engaged in research, which is what world class institutions are known for.
