NGO Applauds FG For Post-UTME Cancellation

An NGO, Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has described the recent cancellation of the conduct of the post-UTME by the Federal Government as a relief to parents and candidates.

The National Coordinator of the group, Mr Hassan Soweto, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

Soweto said that the cancellation was a right step in the right direction, as it would go a long way in relieving parents the financial burden associated with such examination every year.

He said that candidates should be granted direct access to institutions of their choice on presentation of their qualifying certificates and proof of having sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

“I think government has done the right thing by cancelling this post-UTME.

“t was exploitative and therefore, a kind of financial burden on the parents.

“However, I think the development is also a wake-up call for the Federal Government to address identified lapses in the conduct of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in organising UTME.

“This will ensure that results from such examination will be held in high esteem,’’ he said.

Soweto said that there was an urgent need for government to provide more tertiary institutions, provide necessary facilities as well as upgrade the existing ones.

“Actually the major challenge facing most of our tertiary institutions today is the issue of carrying capacity.

“The argument, therefore, is that there might not be enough space to accommodate majority of candidates that qualified at the UTME and that for me, is one major reason for the post-UTME.

“So for this cancellation of the post-UTME to be effective, government must wake up to its responsibility in providing quality access to tertiary education,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the Federal Government had announced cancellation of the conduct of post-UTME at the recent Joint Policy meeting to decide cut off marks for candidates seeking placements into tertiary institutions,

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, however advised that institutions were at liberty to conduct screening to select their candidates.

The minister also warned that institutions that go against the directive would be sanctioned.

Adamu also urged all institutions that had already collected fees from candidates for the conduct of the examination under any guise, to return same to such students with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, heads of universities had been meeting with the government in an attempt to come up with standing guidelines for the screening of candidates for admission for the 2016/2017 academic session.