By Felix Khanoba
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says about 70 percent of tertiary education institutions in the country are yet to begin admission for the 2020/2021 academic session.
Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, made this known at a virtual meeting with heads of tertiary institutions in the country on Wednesday.
A statement made available to The AUTHORITY by JAMB’s head of media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said it was agreed at the meeting that 15 June, 2021, would be the deadline for all admissions in the country.
The statement said the JAMB’s boss stated that the meeting was convened to know the level institutions had reached on the 2020/21 admissions scale.
According to him, the essence of the interactive meeting was to also forestall an endless admission regime generated by the series of disruptions to daily life occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the meeting would enable the Board to put necessary machinery in place for the 2021/2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry registration exercise.
Oloyede harped on the need to collectively decide when to close the 2020/2021 admission exercise, adding that there was a proposal for public universities to end admissions four weeks ahead of private universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The statement said after a robust and insightful deliberation, members collectively agreed that all public universities are expected to finish their admissions on or before 15th May, 2021, while the private universities, polytechnics and others would complete theirs at the agreed date of 15th June, 2021.
The JAMB boss reiterated that the chosen deadlines remained sacrosanct and binding on all institutions as the Board would not tolerate any breaches of the collective decision reached at the meeting.
He said the Board would announce in a week’s time the commencement date for the sale of application documents for the 2021/2022 academic session.
Meanwhile, the Board has urged all institutions to adhere strictly to all advisories issued to them on inter/intra-university transfers, foreign inter-university transfers and fresh foreign candidates, change of programmes and institutions and other essential processes related to admission in order to avoid unnecessary bickerings that could endanger the future of innocent candidates and their subsequent mobilization for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Oloyede said the advisories and procedures were to serve as guides for them on how to handle the various issues as they arose.
The registrar disclosed that transfer of candidates within institutions locally or internationally is an acceptable process as approved by the senate or council of the respective institutions but said that due process must be followed.
He pointed out that the Board, as a responsible organisation and gate keeper, would not allow the process to be circumvented to allow unqualified candidates to gain access to our institutions.
He said, “JAMB would not be a party to any improper transfer or breach of set guidelines adding that adequate measures or checks must be done to verify if such candidates meet minimum requirements or possess the prerequisite qualifications to be in the institution in the first instance.”
