The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has raised the alarm at the upsurge in the presentation of false affidavits and increase in doctored upward age-adjustments on the National Identity Number (NIN) slips being submitted to the Board for admission purposes.
Recall that for the 2024 admission cycle, Chairman of the 2024 tertiary admission policy meeting, who is also the Honourable Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman
announced that candidates who will be at least sixteen years old at the time of admission will be considered eligible while the extant policy of 6-3-3-4 be enforced only from 2025 session.
Dr Fabian Benjamin, the Board’s Public Communication Advisor, disclosed this when he briefed newsmen on Sunday.
Benjamin who expressed disappointment at the level of desperation to falsify ages of candidates for admission into the nation’s tertiary institutions warned that doctored upward age-adjustments on NIN slips and false affidavits being submitted to JAMB to upgrade recorded age is dangerous, inimical and unnecessary.
He said, “Only those below 16 would not and should not be admitted in accordance with the decision of the 2024 Policy Meeting.”
Speaking on illegal admissions, Benjamin who briefed the press at the board’s headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, directed all institutions to disclose within one month details of all candidates they illegally admitted prior to 2017 or risk derecognition.
He said the Board had resolved that it would no longer entertain absorption of illegal admissions by institutions through the window of “Condonment of Illegal Admissions” without registration number.
The move, he explained, was aimed at curbing illegal admissions, falsification of records and ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Central Admissions Processing System and assured that the Board will not relent in saving the integrity of the education system.
On the trending strange admission practice labelled as “Daily-Part-Time” (DPT) by certain polytechnics and “Top Up” (TU) by some universities, Benjamin clarified that no such programmes are approved by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) nor by National Universities Commission (NUC), saying both are alien to the education system in Nigeria.
He added, “A recent and particularly egregious example of this is the advertisement placed by Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, in Oyo State …. inviting candidates to apply for its two-year Daily Part Time (DPT) programme.
“They are fraudulent devices to side-line quality, approved quota for full time admission, falsify records and consequently, rake illegitimate income and derail the ambition and career of innocent (and some equally crooked) candidates.
“The candidates with zero or abysmally low UTME score are rationally attracted to such contraption which would lead to nowhere.
“Part-time programmes are strictly regulated, allowing institutions to admit only up to 150% of the approved full-time capacity.
“However, some institutions have been found to admit an excessive number of candidates through this unrecognized DPT programme, merging them with full-time students in classrooms and purporting to graduate them at the same time with full time students.”
He cautioned that the alien admission practices undermine the integrity of the educational system under the guise of revenue generation and advised candidates seeking admission to be cautious of such programmes and avoid them, as they are not recognized and will not be tolerated under any regularization or condoment.
“Part-time programmes, by definition and regulation, are conducted on a part-time basis and are distinct from full-time programmes.
“Be reminded of the previous futile requests from candidates enrolled on such programmes to be mobilized for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. The programme is fundamentally flawed,” he added.
He warned candidates not to accept any admission outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) between 2017 and 2020, saying the Board will not tolerate any undisclosed admission by any institution.
