JAMB Directs Tertiary Institutions To Begin Post UTME September 7

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB, has directed all Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in Nigeria to conduct post- Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, post-UTME, screening exercise for the 2020 admission their respective institutions from September 7.

The board had earlier fixed August 21 for the exams but upon consideration had decided to shift it to a later date to accommodate candidates who will be taking part in this year’s school-based Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE.

The Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this on Monday after a consultative virtual meeting with vice Chancellors, Rectors, and Provosts of Tertiary education institutions.

He said, “The view of JAMB is that while we go on consulting at a point when it becomes necessary for decision, we should all come together and take decision. 

“Presently as you are aware, WAEC starts the Senior School Certificate Examination on 17 August, it will go on till 7th of September. 

“Similarly, on the 21 of September or thereabout, NABTEB will commence its own examination that will go on till on the 15 of October, and immediately after that, NECO starts on the 5th and will hold till 18 of November.

“Rather than making candidates run, particularly, when they will have to write their school certificate exam in different towns and rush to  university elsewhere for post-UTME, like somebody rushing from Sokoto to Ibadan t for post-UTME, we believe as a custodian of the highest sector of the education system, we should avoid that.

For institutions whose post-UTME screening is mandatory for candidates they would have to spread such exercise in two phases, Oloyede added.

Explaining further he said, “For those institutions who want to take post-UTME, that cannot be earlier than the 7th of September and it will be held twice- 7 September to 4 October, and then it will be held for the second time on the  18 November to mop up those who are taking their school certificate examination.”

 Oloyede, while commending the various submissions of heads of tertiary institutions during the meeting, said institutions that conduct admissions without the administration of any-post UTME screening should also ensure  candidates whose SSCE results will be released towards the end of the year are not denied participation in the admission exercise.

Meanwhile Oloyede also revealed that results of candidates that sat for this year’s UTME at Correctional Service centres formerly known as prisons has been withheld over suspected infractions.

He said, “There are candidates who took exams in the prison yard that  we know are not prisoners, so we wrote to the correctional centres to explain how that happens, because we didn’t want non-prisoners to take advantage of the concessions we give to inmates,” Oloyede said.