Some Vice-Chancellors and the
Academic Staff Union of Universities have rejected the decision of the Joint Admissions
and Matriculation Board to peg admission cut-off mark at 120 for universities
and 100 for polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education.
ASUU said the action, which it
described as a “sad policy decision,” was in tandem “with the dream of the
present government to destroy public universities in the country.”
Most of the vice-chancellors interviewed on the issue maintained that they would not lower
admission standards in their respective varsities.
The vice-chancellors stated that
the decision would add no value to the nation’s university system.
For instance, the Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Tope Ogunmodede, said the institution would not admit any candidate with 120 UTME score.
He said, “Traditionally, OAU has never admitted students who scored below 200 in the UTME. For us, we are sticking to 200. The minimum benchmark is 120 but you can go higher than that. I expect that an institution should be able to determine the quality of its graduates because there are internal exams. What has been done is to provide a leeway for universities to decide their cut-off marks.”
For University of Ibadan, in a statement
issued by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, on
the issue and released by his Media Assistant, Mr. Sunday Saanu, on Thursday,
the premier university stated that it would never admit any candidate that
scored 120 in the UTME.
Also, the Dean of Students
Affairs, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Kayode Alese, who spoke
on behalf of FUTA management, said that the institution would soon unveil its
cut-off mark.
“However, I can assure you that
FUTA has never gone as low as 120. It has never happened and it will never
happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National
Association of Nigerian Students has described the reduction of the cut-off
marks for admission into tertiary institutions as “a gross misplacement of
priority and an exercise in futility.”
The organisation said that the
reduction by JAMB, from 180 for universities and 165 polytechnics, to 120 and
100 respectively for the 2017 UTME, would translate to a disastrous outcome in
the future.
The President of NANS, Chinonso
Obasi, in a statement on Thursday, threatened that the decision would be
resisted if JAMB refused to adhere to the status quo.
