Discordant tunes over relevance, continuity of post-UTME

Among other things, the need to cross-validate applicants’ scores in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), as well as to ensure that competent and qualified candidates are admitted into Nigerian universities, are some of the reasons given by public tertiary institutions to justify the introduction of the post – UTME. However, controversy has continued to trail the necessity or otherwise of the screening exercise, IYABO LAWAL writes.

Last year, a female candidate applied to study Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State with excellent results in the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), and the UTME.
 
She had distinctions in six subjects in her SSCE, and 284 marks in the JAMB-conducted examination. The fantastic result combination attracted OAU’s attention, and she was invited for the post-UTME test.
  
During the interaction, the panel members were so “impressed” with her supposed results that a member of the team, probably out of curiosity, posed a simple question to her, which caused her to fidget. Initially, some of the panel members thought that she was intimidated by the presence of some professors, thereby, giving her time to relax. But, alas, the candidate bungled the session and later confessed that someone wrote the exams for her.
 
In other instances, prospective university students have lost their lives in automobile accidents on their way to various institutions to undergo the screening exercise, while the lucky ones live with permanent disabilities. Unfortunately, they may never get the chance to write the examination, or come out successful, let alone gain admission into tertiary institutions.
   
It is experiences like these that are fuelling the debate on whether the post-UTME should continue or not. The Federal Government in 2005, during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, introduced the policy of post-UTME screening by universities, which made it compulsory for tertiary institutions to test candidates after JAMB results before offering them admissions.
 
But in 2016, the then education minister, Adamu Adamu, while passing a vote of confidence on JAMB, directed that the post-UTME should be stopped immediately.
 
Adamu, in making the pronouncement, said that there was no need for other examinations to be conducted by tertiary institutions after JAMB had done what it is statutorily empowered to do.
 
But members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) countered the move and staged a protest condemning the decision to scrap the policy.
The lecturers warned the Federal Government that the Ministry of Education’s scrapping of the examination constituted a danger to the quality of education in the country.
 
They also pointed out that the decision undermined the autonomy and powers of universities’ senates (as the highest policy-making body on academic matters), particularly the admission of students, and the award of degrees.
 
By August of the following year, that hotly contested decision was reversed, as the Federal Government lifted the ban on the conduct of examinations usually organised by universities for admission seekers after the UTME.
  
Adamu, however, urged the institutions and its authorities to make the fees for the post-UTME screening affordable in order not to impose a huge financial burden on parents and students who fend for themselves.
   
Some concerned stakeholders, under the aegis of Education Without Barrier, a non-governmental organization, broke ranks with the university teachers and called on the Federal Ministry of Education, and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to cancel post-UTME.
  
They argued that apart from the financial burden of an extra examination to be passed by the prospective students, the time and efforts involved could be excruciating at times.
 
For instance, a university that can admit just 4,000 new intakes, was accused of collecting post-UTME fees from about 100,000 admission seekers.
 
They, thus, advised the Federal Ministry of Education, and tertiary institutions to devise other means of assessing successful admission seekers instead of focusing on written tests.
  
The group, at a forum in Lagos, said that innovations by JAMB have reduced examination malpractice and built the confidence of parents and guardians.
Led by an education consultant, Dr Ikeoluwa Ademidun, the group maintained that there was no need for other examinations to be conducted by universities after JAMB had administered the same.
  
“As far as we are concerned, we have confidence in what JAMB is doing. Universities should not be holding another examination for prospective students. If JAMB is qualified enough to conduct Computer-Based Tests (CBT), then, there should be no need to conduct another test for students to gain admission,” Ademidun stated.
 
A section of highly placed academics and education administrators, while aligning with the group, described the post-UTME as highly exploitative as many universities have turned the exercise into a revenue earner.
 
They are also of the view that the adoption of a two-pronged qualifying examination- one conducted by JAMB, and the other moderated by respective institutions was simply unfair to candidates, their parents, and guardians, describing such as a duplication of efforts.
 
An educationist and Proprietor of Shining Lights, a co-educational secondary school in Lagos, Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunade, said that there was no basis for post–UTME, or any written test again after JAMB conducted examinations for students’ admission.
 
She said: “Having another body to test candidates is not necessary. JAMB results should be viewed as authentic admission documents into Nigerian universities.”
  
Ogunade, who lamented the financial burden borne by parents, said most of them were not able to pay their children’s school fees and buy textbooks for them in time due to economic constraints.
  
While defending JAMB and the steps that it has taken to ensure the authenticity of its results, public analyst, Peter Nodim, said: “JAMB, more than any of the examination body in Nigeria, over the years, has introduced new measures in the conduct of its examination. So revolutionary was the CBT that universities began to adopt it, not only for post-UTME but also for their own internally conducted exams .
 
Nodim added that the examination body has taken the lead in adopting measures to overcome challenges associated with the conduct of examinations .
 
“The problem with us is that we are most often not patient enough to allow innovations to work, even when it is in tandem with international best practices. Unfortunately, Nigeria cannot allow itself to veer off the lane of international best practices in educational development as a core element of facilitating competitiveness in a fast globalizing world,” he added.
 
Prof. Ken Oguama, of Benue State University, Makurdi, said that JAMB may have had issues with the acceptability of its examination in the past, but that the body has taken several steps over the years to correct observable lapses and strengthen the reliability of tests for admission into tertiary institutions.
  
An education consultant, Louis Adams, said that post-UTME is unnecessary in a 21st-century educational system.   
Adams argued that the world is more civilised and things have changed for the better.
 
According to Adams, admissions into tertiary institutions should be through concessional entrance examination and not UTME or post-UTME.
 
He cited Ghanaian universities, where there are no unified examinations to pre-qualify students for admissions, adding that students secure admission into tertiary institutions with only the basic requirements of five credits in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and other relevant examinations in Ghana.
  
“Let universities conduct concessional entrance examinations for their students. This is what is obtainable in Europe, and what is popular all over the world. Students stay in their rooms with computer sets, make requests for admission forms, and within 24 hours they are offered entry into tertiary institutions,” Adams said.
 
The education consultant noted that admission processes should not be cumbersome as has been the case in recent times.
He said: “We are faced with the challenge of no spaces in our universities and unfortunately, there is also the misplacement of available vacancies. That is why Nigerians are talking about UTME. All these are not obtainable in civilized societies.
 
“As stakeholders in education, the government should begin to partner with the private sector, by sending surplus students who have no space in their first and second choice universities to private colleges of education. They can assure them admissions because there is desire and propensity for education in the Nigerian child.”
 
Adams deplored the excessive emphasis on paper qualification and not on knowledge acquisition in the country, adding that in advanced democracies, practical education, which is lacking in the country, holds sway. 
  
However, some educationists and administrators do not think that two examinations are too many to properly sieve qualified candidates from those who were aided by corrupt officials and unwholesome elements.
 
They argued that stopping post-UTME would make it easy for several unsuitable admission seekers to gain admission into universities and similar institutions.
To them, the post-UTME was vital to ensure that unsuitable admission seekers did not slip into higher institutions of learning.
 
A Professor of Adult Education, Prof. Grace Essien, said that even though JAMB is still a relevant player in the sector, post-UTME, as originally conceived in 2004, is imperative if the country is to get improved quality students for the higher education system.
 
Rather than shut the door on post-UTME, Essien said that the government should take away whatever universities are not doing right.An education consultant, Dr Ken Amaeshi, said through post-UTME, brilliant, indigent students have access to tertiary education as they are admitted on merit.
 
“Any student with a 200 and above score in UTME is expected to pass post-UTME without stress. This has helped a lot. Some students with ridiculously high marks in the UTME fail during screening, while some who managed to score above 200 in UTME do well in post-UTME. This provides a fair play in the process of admission seeking. Post-UTME is the savior of those that do not engage in examination malpractice and those with good grades, but from humble backgrounds,” Amaechi said.
  
Besides, he noted that post-UTME screening helps students to know their capabilities. “Not all students are meant to be in universities; those that cannot meet the cut-off marks set by universities settle for polytechnics, colleges of education, and other universities with lower cut-off marks. Post-UTME also helps students to discover their abilities, talents, careers, and capabilities.
 
Rather than do away with post-UTME, he urged the government to step up measures towards improving infrastructure in public universities and expanding the same to accommodate more students who are itching for quality tertiary education.
 
On his part, Prof Usman Adamu of the University of Maiduguri said that scrapping post-UTME might put serious pressure on public institutions, which cannot cope with the rising number of applicants.

He wondered how an institution with a capacity for less than 5,000 students per session, and with over 500,000 applicants would be able to choose the best without post-UTME.