PETITION: Citizen kicks, says JAMB 1-year validity exploits applicants, wants results valid for 3 years
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A Nigerian citizen, Mr. Amamchukwu Okafor, has raised serious objection to the one year validity of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) results, saying that the Board exploits applicants by same results.
Mr. Okafor stated this in a petition shared online on Change.org, entitled “JAMB exploits applicants, results should be valid for 3 years!”
Okafor, in the petition, noted that “an applicant’s JAMB score is useful only in a given year for only 3 universities.
“But in reality, if you miss the first choice university, you may not be considered in the other schools and will have to retake JAMB another year” he lamented.
Speaking further, he stressed that JAMB needs an urgent reform, seeking that the three-year validity be applicable to multiple schools.
As at the moment of this publication, nearly one thousand persons have signed Okafor’s petition to reform JAMB on two main points:
- To extend the validity period of JAMB results from one year to three years.
- To remove the limitation on the schools of choice (typically only three schools).
If the petition scales through, applicants will be allowed to use their JAMB results to apply to as many universities as they wish over a 3-year validity period.
The petition reads:
“Every year, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) administers the university matriculation examination which is valid for only one year.
“It also limits your university choices to ONLY 3 schools. In essence, an applicant’s JAMB score is useful only in a given year for only 3 universities.
“But in reality, if you missed the first choice university, you may not be considered in the other schools and might have to retake JAMB another year (if you wish to get a Uni education).
“Sadly, there’s no clearly defined JAMB score that guarantees admission, because university admission still depends on universities’ assessment tests (Post-UME), the JAMB cut-off point for the course/school of choice (in the given year), and senior secondary school certificates.
“Like IELTS Official and TOEFL, even worse, JAMB results have a validity of one year and limited choices for schools.
“JAMB effectively obscures the university entrance process such that it is nearly impossible for foreign students to enroll in public universities in Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, universities in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and the Benin Republic enroll students from Nigeria and other African countries.
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“This implies a loss of revenue (direct and indirect) and an absence of diversity and pan-African representation in universities across Nigeria.”
He regretted that JAMB registrars, despite always being university professors, still fail to radically change the system, rather, boast about how much revenue JAMB rakes in.
“But JAMB isn’t a revenue spinner. Every year JAMB declares profit that it extorts from applicants who take the exam multiple times,” he noted.
Okafor, in the statement, added that there are so many ills that JAMB is doing and so much good it isn’t doing.
“JAMB is the standard University entrance examination in Nigeria.
“The legal instrument establishing the Board was promulgated by the Act (No. 2 of 1978) of the Federal Military Government on 13th February 1978.
“It was amended and codified into Decree No. 33 of 1989, which took effect on 7th December 1989. That’s a long time ago. We can agree that the Act needs revisiting.
“JAMB has been an obstacle both to Nigerian students seeking university education and to university autonomy,” he concluded.
Okafor, therefore, urged Nigerians to sign the petition so as to create a better future for coming generations.
Interested persons can sign the petition here.
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