JAMB Defends UTME, Says O’Level Results Qualify Candidates for Admission

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has clarified its role in the Nigerian tertiary education admission process, emphasizing that the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is not a determinant of academic success but a mechanism for ranking candidates.

Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB's Head of Media and Publicity, explained that while achieving five O'Level credits makes a candidate academically qualified, the UTME serves as a competitive tool to allocate limited admission slots. "There is no pass or fail in JAMB," he stated, illustrating that a lower UTME score might secure admission while a higher one might not, depending on institutional and course-specific competition.

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There is no pass or fail in JAMB. A candidate who scores 180 may gain admission, while another who scores 300 may not, depending on the institution and course. The examination is simply a vehicle for selecting candidates where spaces are limited.

Benjamin likened the UTME to a selection process for limited seats in a vehicle, where all passengers are qualified to travel but only a few can occupy the available spots. This explanation aims to address widespread public misunderstanding of the examination's purpose.

Furthermore, JAMB defended the federal government's decision to exempt candidates seeking admission into Colleges of Education from the UTME. This measure is intended as a temporary solution to combat declining enrollment in teacher education programs, which have seen institutions struggle to fill even 10% of their quotas. Some colleges have resorted to admitting students outside the official system to remain operational, a practice JAMB acknowledges has occurred.

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Educational programmes in many colleges of education are almost going extinct. Day after day, they come to JAMB asking for waivers because they cannot fill their quotas.