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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

JAMB is not an exam body, Registrar insists

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Registrar of Nigeria's Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, clarified that JAMB is an educational assessment and admission agency, not an examination body.
  • Oloyede stressed that JAMB's primary role is facilitating tertiary institution admissions, using examinations as one tool among others.
  • He cautioned against overemphasizing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), stating that admission depends on multiple factors beyond UTME scores.

The Registrar of Nigeria's Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has firmly stated that the board is not an examination body but rather an agency focused on educational assessment and facilitating admissions into tertiary institutions.

We conduct exams, but we are not an examination company. You cannot say the University of Lagos is an examination body because it conducts examinations. The same way, JAMB conducts exams, but JAMB is not an examination body.

— Prof. Ishaq OloyedeClarifying JAMB's role as an educational assessment and admission agency rather than solely an examination body.

Speaking at the Rite Foods National Academic Excellence Awards in Lagos, Oloyede explained that while JAMB conducts examinations, its core mandate is admission. He drew a distinction between JAMB and bodies like the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), whose names explicitly identify them as examination bodies. Oloyede emphasized that JAMB's function is often misunderstood in Nigeria, where it is frequently equated with traditional examination organizations.

If you want to know what an examination body is, look at WAEC or NECO. Their names clearly show they are examination bodies. JAMB is an educational assessment body, and its goal is admission, not examination.

— Prof. Ishaq OloyedeDistinguishing JAMB's mandate from that of traditional examination councils.

Oloyede highlighted that the significant focus on the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Nigeria contributes to these misconceptions. He cautioned that the UTME is not the sole determinant for university admission, despite its perceived importance. According to him, high UTME scores alone do not guarantee admission, as candidates must also meet other institutional requirements, including specific subject combinations.

There is a hype about UTME in Nigeria. People believe it is the golden key to tertiary institutions. It is not so.

— Prof. Ishaq OloyedeAddressing the public's overemphasis on the UTME for university admissions.

He further elaborated that celebrating high UTME scores without considering overall eligibility can be misleading. JAMB acts as a clearinghouse, managing a large number of candidates to ensure fairness and proper placement based on merit and institutional criteria. The board aims to clarify its role as an admission-focused agency to reduce public confusion surrounding the UTME process.

Many people have high scores but do not have the required subject combinations or qualifications for admission. That is why celebrating UTME alone can be misleading.

— Prof. Ishaq OloyedeExplaining why UTME scores alone are insufficient for admission decisions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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