The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, has disclosed that some tertiary institutions in the country have failed to matriculate any students in the last five years, yet, they have been busy issuing certificates as well as graduating students.
This was contained in the remarks of the Board’s helmsman during a 2-day refresher training for all its Admission Desk Officers organised by the Board to sensitise them on the significance of matriculation and matriculation list analysis.
The training, which was held at the Boardroom, National Headquarters, Bwari, Abuja, commenced on Wednesday, 22nd and ended on Thursday, 23rd November, 2023.
Declaring the training open, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, stated that the training was important to ensure optimal performance. He expressed displeasure with the flagrant disregard for extant regulations by erring institutions.
“How can a school that never admitted any candidate continue to issue certificates and graduating students? A number of them got approval to operate no doubt, but they never bother following other requisite regulations thereafter, they must continue running the institutions in their own way,” he said.
Continuing, he charged the participants to take the training seriously as they would be held responsible for not informing any erring institutions in writing that they did not admit and, as such, could not graduate any students.
In his words, “At the end of the year, we will inform the erring institutions that had not informed you of their matriculation in writing that, they may not admit any student and, as such, any candidates who attend such schools do it at their own risk, as they will not be mobilised for the one- year compulsory national youths service.”
The Registrar stressed that the reports from the Desk Officers must be robust enough to give details of all institutions assigned to them, whether they have written to notify the Board of their matriculations or not, saying that analysis should not only be based on the records of the institutions that have communicated to JAMB.
He said, “Immediately you are through with your analysis and your Director approves it, you will send it to the Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, for a weekly publication of what is now to be known as Matriculation This Week’, which will feature the details of the institutions that are ready for matriculation within any particular week.
Other details to be contained in their reports would include necessary details such as the number of candidates pending approval, number of candidates pending recommendations, number of candidates admitted on CAPS, number of candidates admitted outside CAPS, et cetera.”
Explaining further, Oloyede admonished the Desk Officers to constantly ensure the free flow of communication between them and the institutions, particularly if there is any reason for which the schools could not be permitted to matriculate.
He said, for example, “If any institution has admitted candidates under the table, even if such school has sent its matriculation list as well as invited the Board for its matriculation within the stipulated period, all you will simply do is to write to them that they cannot matriculate because most of their admitted students have been admitted outside CAPS against the regulation.”
In the same vein, Prof. Oloyede charged the participants to take advantage of the training to acquire necessary skills, noting that the admission process has been 90% automated and, therefore, different from what they used to know.
He disclosed that by the 2024/2025 Academic Year, the entire process would be fully automated.
In his remarks, the Director of
Admissions Department, Mr.
Muhammed Babaji Ahmed, made it known that the training came about as a result of the Registrar’s reservations regarding some lapses in the conduct of some Desk Officers
and, therefore, expressed the need for all Desk Officers to have the requisite knowledge of the entire process.
“The Registrar felt that there was a need for all Desk Officers to have a good grasp of the essence of the matriculation list analysis for their respective institutions.
“Hitherto, we had to wait for the institutions to bring their matriculation list for analysis to be conducted then we write the institutions, highlighting the observations made but now, our system is automated, it runs the analysis and sends the results to the institutions through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).”
In his remarks, the Director of Information and Technology Services (ITS), Mr. Fabian Okoro, said, “ITS Department is ever ready to render necessary technical support to the Admissions Department. Whatever support is needed from us will be given at all times. I implore you all to pay rapt attention to this training, if you need any assistance, we will be here to give it,” he announced.