The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have reduced the cut-off marks for admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
This means that students seeking admission into tertiary institutions in the country can have a shot at admission by scoring as low as 25% in the JAMB exam.
The JAMB examination is however not the determining factor for admission into tertiary institutions in the country. Students must pass the Post-UTME exams which are organized by the institutions they applied to before admission is offered.
Despite this, JAMB examination remains the most dreaded in the country as far as students seeking admission are concerned.
This is why the news of the recent cut-off mark reduction will undoubtedly come as good news to many. But, it has continued to receive mixed reactions from different sectors and for different reasons.
Critics believe that the reduction further proved that education standards in the country are dying. This is evident in the mass failures recorded in JAMB, WAEC and NECO examinations in the last few years. They argue that the government should do all it can to fix the problem, not reduce cut-off marks.
READ MORE: SNAKE SWALLOWS 100, 000 USD FROM JAMB VOLT
Another section has accused JAMB officials and University stakeholders in the country of greed. They argue that the stakeholders are more concerned with making more money from the sales of forms for Post-UTME examinations. Reducing the cut-off marks will mean more students qualifying and applying for the University Post-UTME examinations.
Also, there are students who were denied admission in the past because they did not meet the cut-off marks. Majority of such students who until last year could gain admission because they didn’t get the desired cut-off marks have expressed dissatisfaction at the development.
The happiest of the lot are the students that just took the JAMB examinations because they have a better chance of gaining admission.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board yesterday officially released the new cut-off marks for admission into higher institutions for the 2019/2020 academic session.
The news was delivered after a policy meeting, which is held yearly to ascertain the cut off marks for admission into Nigerian institutions.
The 19th Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria approved 160 and above as the national minimum cutoff mark for admission into all state-owned and federal Universities for 2019.
The minimum cut off marks suggested by JAMB for admissions into public universities, private universities, public polytechnic, private polytechnics and colleges of education are 160, 140, 120, 110 and 100 respectively.
The new cut-off marks for admission into tertiary institutions in the country are as follows:Public Universities — 160
Private Universities — 140
Public Polytechnics — 120
Private Polytechnics — 110
Colleges of Education — 100
What are your thoughts?
Header Image Credit: The Guardian Nigeria