While some have merely tagged the new measures as “screening of certificates”, others insist that their candidates must sit for other written examinations.
This comes as some others have yet to roll out the modalities in place of the post-UTME. The Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu, while declaring open a Combined Policy Meeting on admission to universities, polytechnics and other higher institutions, in Abuja, two weeks ago, announced the scrapping of the post-UTME.
He described subjecting candidates to another round of examination after the UTME conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board as unnecessary. At the Lagos State University, Ojo, where the authorities said they would respect the Federal Government’s directive, its Head, Centre for Information, Press and Public Relations, Mr. Martin Adekoya, said the university had initiated a fresh screening measure.
Adekoya said, “For now, I may not totally rule out any further examination but the university has inaugurated a screening method.” Finding by one of our correspondents show that the university is allegedly demanding N5,000 for this year’s post-UTME registration. The school, it was also gathered, had scheduled the registration for between June 9 and 24.
For the University of Benin, which has already fixed between June 27 and July 9 for the what it called “Computer-based screening” at its Ugbowo campus, the candidates would pay an application fee of N2,000 that excludes other charges such as those for past questions as well as Interswitch and Portal Services.
But while some schools are still rolling out the modalities, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, one of our correspondents gathered, has already conducted the post-UTME. Justifying the examination, the Head, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tunde Olofintila, said, “We ran our post-UTME on Saturday. In the past, people came in with jumbo marks they could not defend. So, the post-UTME is a way of checking this.”
The founder of the university, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), had earlier faulted the scrapping of the post-UTME. Meanwhile, the University of Ibadan said its Senate had yet to release modalities for the screening of candidates to the ivory tower.
Its Director of Communications, Mr. Olatunji Oladejo, who confirmed this to one of our correspondents on Monday, however, said that the university was aware that scammers were trying to defraud some candidates seeking admission to the school. He said, “The university has not taken a decision on modalities for admission but we will let members of the public know as soon as possible.
The screening criteria will be peculiar to the standard set by the institution. “We are aware of admission scammers who have been luring parents and candidates into believing that they could influence their admission into the school. They reportedly collect N40,000 from each candidate but we are using this opportunity to warn parents and candidates to beware of such scammers. They do not represent the admission office of the school or its management. So far, the school has not released its 2016 admission guideline.”
Also, the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ojere, Abeokuta, Ogun State, through its Public Relations Officer, Sulaiman Adebiyi, said the institution was considering a number of options to replace the post-UTME. The polytechnic, he said, would insist on the candidates’ UTME as well as the West African Senior School Certification Examination results. Adebiyi said, “The institution has not arrived at any option yet but we are considering a number of options.
Definitely, any student seeking admission into MAPOLY must meet the cut off mark by the JAMB and he or she must have good grades in his or her ‘O’ level results. “As I told you, we have yet to take any final decision on that. But soon, the modalities will be worked out.” Similarly, the Head, Directorate of Public Relations, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Mrs. Emi Alawode, said the Governing Council and the Senate of the institution were still consulting with relevant stakeholders on the most appropriate substitute for the scrapped post-UTME. She said, “As soon as the conclusion is reached, we will make it public.”
For the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, said the school would wait for further directive from the Federal Ministry of Education. Adebanjo said, “What we are trying to do in our pre-admission screening is to ensure that we take appropriate guidance from the Federal Ministry of Education. What we are going to do will be in the ambit of the directive of the ministry. “ One of the private universities in the state, the Achiever’s University, Owo, said it adopted simple traditional mode of screening the students by checking their results and interviewing them to assess their level of intelligence quotient.
The Head, Public Relations of the institution, Mr. Adebayo Olagunju, who said admission process had commenced in the university, noted that its potential students were currently passing through the screening in line with the style of the school. He said, “We have commenced the screening now for our new students. What we normally do is to invite them and we check their results and interview them to know their characters.
So, anybody found to be deficient will be screened out. “ In a related development, the Vice-Chancellor of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Prof. Samuel Bandele, has backed the scrapping of the post-UTME, describing it as “unnecessary duplication.” Bandele, who spoke at a briefing in Ado Ekiti, said, “The scrapping of post-UTME is a good one, but this cannot stop the universities from screening prospective students because that has been the tradition even before the advent of JAMB.”
Also, the VC of the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Prof. Debo Adeyewa, said the university would not conduct another examination for candidates. Adeyewa, who said universities in other climes had their ways of screening students for admission, noted that the idea of centralised university admission did not support university autonomy.
He said, “The post-UTME is one component of screening. We still have other ways of screening the students to know if their credentials are genuine and to know their background. “We screen to know more about the character of the students. We do not conduct another examination but we will screen their credentials.”
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