The
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has described as unnecessary
the controversies over the reduction of cut-off marks for 2017 admission
exercise into tertiary institutions by stakeholders at its policy meeting.
Rather than criticisms, JAMB said, Nigerians
should be concerned about how to address the flight of citizens in glorified
secondary schools called foreign Universities in places like country Ghana,
Uganda, Gambia and others.
“It is expedient to state here that the worst
admitted cut-off mark in a Nigerian institution is far better than allowing
them to fly out to some of the institution they are attending out there which
we all know are nothing to be proud of”, JAMB said.
The organisation had repeatedly emphasised that
despite the reduction of cut-off points from 180 for Universities and 165
Polytechnics, to now 120 and 100 respectively for the 2017 Unified Tertiary
Matriculations Examination (UTME), institutions were not under compulsion to accept
that as their benchmarks for admission.
However, despite all the explanations, critics
have continued to duel on it, fuelling insinuations that they may have been
paid to do a hatchet job against JAMB.
But the spokesperson of JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, in
a statement issued on Sunday in Jos, the Plateau State capital, said despite
the criticisms, the organisation would not lose focus.
He said, “The much trending controversy over
the just released cut off marks for 2017 admission exercise by stakeholders at
the policy meeting is quite unnecessary. Today, we are where we are because
many are afraid to say the truth for fear of being condemned rather than being
celebrated and set free as commanded by the Holy Books.
“This notwithstanding, JAMB will not be deterred,
we will continue to say the truth as it is and support policies that would
bring our education system out of the woods. Today, it is a known fact that
millions of Nigerians are out there schooling in mushroom institutions and they
will at the end come back with all kinds of degrees and certificates that we
cannot explain their content.
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