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Six years after the introduction of post-University Matriculation Examination, questions are still being asked about its desirability

Its birth was trailed by controversy. Six years after, the controversy has remained. The question is still being asked if the Post-University Matriculation Examination, otherwise known as Post-UME, is really desirable.

The policy was introduced in 2005, by the Federal Ministry of Education to allow university screen qualified candidates, to ascertain the authenticity of the marks they scored in the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, examination. The National Council on Education had directed then that no university should charge each participating student more than N1,000 for the exercise.

Chinwe Obaji, then minister of education, had explained that the discovery of students using fraudulent results to gain admission into universities informed   the post-JAMB test in 2005. She said the test was an intervention by government to address the failure of JAMB. The policy was later renamed Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to accommodate polytechnics and colleges of education.

But six years down the line, questions are being raised on the desirability of the policy. Those who want the policy scrapped argued that the system had been abused by some tertiary authorities, thereby making the burden to outweigh its merits.  Many Nigerians believe that the results of the Post-UTME tests are being used by different institutions for different purposes other than the original concept. They have argued that Post-UTME contravened the law establishing JAMB and the directives of the National Council on Education stipulating that a maximum of N1, 000 fee be charged for the exercise. Some institutions now charge as high as N6,000 and invite candidates far more than their carrying capacities to boost their revenue from the exercise. This is part of what has fuelled the agitation for the abolition of the policy.

Recently, the Senate set up a committee headed by Uche Chukwumerije to determine the desirability or otherwise of the UTME examination. Obaji appeared before the committee last week and said she had discovered while in office as minister  that most students who scored high in JAMB could not even write correct sentences or defend such scores, hence the introduction of the policy. She regretted that most universities had turned the exercise into another ‘honey pot.’ Obaji said the policy had outlived its usefulness, and, therefore, suggests that it should be scrapped.  “The test was a credible means of screening and filtering qualified candidates in the face of the limited capacity for admissions into tertiary institutions. But the effort to weed out unqualified candidates in the admission process through post-JAMB has also been abused by the universities. Governors had taken over admissions in federal universities, making it difficult for people without connections to gain admissions,” she told the senate committee.

Dibu Ojerinde, a professor and registrar, JAMB, called for its cancellation, accusing universities of using the test to rip-off university admission-seekers. He took the vice chancellors of Nigerian universities to the cleaners, accusing them of using the post-entrance examination to extort money from innocent youths seeking university admission. He also chided his predecessors in office for introducing such a repulsive policy.

Ojerinde told the Senate probe panel on October 26, that the post UME was illegal because it was the same university administrators who set JAMB questions and mark them, that turn round to question the credibility of the university entrance examination.

He suggested that the universities should only do screening of qualified candidates rather than conduct an additional examination, adding that the universities also have mechanisms for checking and flushing out those who entered the system through fraudulent means. “It is too much of a burden to the poor people to pay as much as N5,000 to write the UME, travel long distances to write the examination and then look for a godfather to push them through,” the professor said.

Two weeks ago, the Imo State House of Assembly set up an ad hoc committee headed by Samuel Anyanwu to look into the issues surrounding the introduction, implementation and abuse of the policy. The assembly is determined to abolish the post-UME examinations in all the state’s tertiary institutions. The assembly’s decision followed a motion by Acho Ihim, member,representing Okigwe constit-uency, calling for the abolition of post-JAMB examination in Imo State University and Imo State Polytechnic. Ihim alleged that admission processes in the higher institutions were characterised by insincerity and corruption on the part of various school authorities. “We gained admission into universities and polytechnics on merit. The process of gaining admission then was very sincere. But today, it has been bastardised and commercialised. School authorities are now interested in your money or your laps. It is now a gold mine. Last year, Imo State University collected money from all students seeking admission for the post-UTME, yet there was no examination,” he alleged.

Donatus Ozoemena, deputy speaker, said the motion was in the best interest of parents and students. He urged other lawmakers   in other states to support it. He maintained that the abolition would, no doubt, restore the confidence of both parents and students in the education sector and eliminate the extortionist tendencies in the school system.

Last week, vice chancellors of Nigerian universities unanimously sought the cancellation UTME and the return to the old system whereby different entrance examinations were conducted for universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education.

Ishaq Oloyede, chairman, committee of vice chancellors and vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, told the senate committee on education that it was improper to use the same examination to admit students into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Oloyede said JAMB should revert to UME for the universities and separate examinations for polytechnics and colleges of education as it was before 2009. He argued that the screening was to ascertain if the candidates were suitable for university education, but admitted that there were some abuses in the conduct of the Post-UME tests conducted by the universities.

But Olufemi Bamiro, former vice chancellor, university of Ibadan, opposed the scrapping of the policy by the National Assembly. He advocated that other tertiary institutions should apply the University of Ibadan’s model instead of conducting a fresh examination for the students. “The system in the University of Ibadan is a kind of interaction based on information elicitation technique with a view to authenticating the claims of the candidate’s academic profile. In UI’s Post-UME interaction model, candidates are not made to sit for another set of examination. Rather, it is an interaction of less than 20 minutes during which candidates are orally asked a few questions relating to their proposed fields of study. UI’s post-UME model is so transparent that every candidate knows his fate immediately. Where is the burden in this exercise?” he queried.

He said those who call for the cancellation of this type of quality assurance mechanism, were doing so as a result of ignorance or based on their less informed scholastic research into the matter.   “If universities will not become breeding grounds for ill-baked and sophomoric graduates, then, post-UME test must remain to be Part of our admission process criteria. Since its introduction in UI four years ago, the percentage of withdrawal level has reduced drastically. In fact, Post-UME test has a correlation with the general good performance at the under graduate level. Between 2000 and 2008, the average first-class graduates we had was 63, but in 2009, the year of the first set of Post-UME candidates, we have 99 students graduating with first class,” he said.

Bamiro urged members of the National Assembly not to tamper with the policy without proper data to back up their action. “As a matter of fact, legislating without data is like embarking on a journey without a road map. The National Assembly must not make a shipwreck of this brilliant idea of Post-UME test because this motion looks more like on act of impulse than calm deliberation,” the professor suggested.

Isaac Adebayo Adeyemi, vice chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, advised against the scrapping of the policy and described the proposal as visionless and a ploy to destabilise the nation’s educational sector.

 “The Post-JAMB is to further determine performance in order to admit the best students. There are some students that have high scores in JAMB and failed the University test. So, the question is, how did they achieve the high scores? Polytechnics, universities and colleges of education should be allowed to put in place modalities in admitting their best students,” he said.