A call has gone to all stakeholders in the education sector to adhere strictly to admission guidelines into the nation’s tertiary institutions.
The call was made by the Rector, Redeemer’s College of Technology and Management (RECTEM), Mowe, Ogun State, Dr. Stella. I. Mofunanya, during the meeting with all Admission Officers in the State with the State Coordinator, Mr. Hakeem AbdulHameed, in the College Chapel recently.
According to Dr. Mofunanya, doing admissions right is a collective responsibility and not just the duty of Admission Officers alone as stakeholders in the education sector must ensure that all their admissions conform with extant admission policies, especially with regard to admitting students through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).
Speaking further, the Rector urged Admission Officers to be diligent while discharging their duties and always seek clarifications when in doubt.
The Admission Officer, Babcock University, Dr. Mrs. Chioma Nemezu, took other participants through a practical and step-by-step admission process on CAPS using the 2023 admissions platform by leveraging on its user-friendly interface, which allows for easy navigation to previous years, among others.
The Admission Officer, Gateway Industrial and Petro-Gas Institute, Mr. Alaba Olufemi, expressed appreciation to the Rector and Management of RECTEM for their hospitality and thanked the State Coordinator for his foresight and for always ensuring compliance with all admissions guidelines across all tertiary institutions in the State.
Earlier, the State Coordinator, in his welcome address, thanked the institution for willingly agreeing to host the significant event. He told the Admission Officers that the maiden meeting themed: “Towards doing Admissions right in Nigerian Institutions” became necessary to reiterate and expatiate on important information passed at the just-concluded 2024 Policy Meeting, which took place in Abuja. He added that he would not relent in his efforts to ensure that admission is done correctly according to the Board’s guidelines by all the institutions in the State.
Also, the Head, Matriculation Monitoring Unit, JAMB State Office, Mrs. Kafayat Ibiwoye, gave the participants a comprehensive lecture on the correct admission procedures.
Furthermore, she outlined some of the wrong process as: admissions outside CAPS, admitting above approved quota, admitting to study unaccredited programme, using below-standard O’ level results, putting non-regular programmes, especially Part- Time under Condonement of Undisclosed Illegal Institutional Admission (CUIIA), directing Part- Time students to apply for Condonement of Illegitimate Admissions (With or Without Registration Number) for the purpose of enrolling for NYSC, among others.
Mrs. Ibiwoye further counseled the Admission Officers to be law abiding by processing all admissions on CAPS, collect only N2,000 for Post-UTME screening, submit Matriculation List for analysis, stop admitting students that have already gained admissions into other institutions, guard their login details jealously, upload their Post-UTME results, reserve 5% of their admission quota for students with disabilities, among others. She reminded them that the conduct of matriculation ceremonies ends the admissions’ process.
Among the distinguished personalities, who graced the occasion, was a top media practitioner and friend of the Board, Alhaji Najeem Jimoh, who delivered his goodwill message by commending Dr. Mofunanya for making the meeting, which he described as first of its kind in the country, possible. He urged the Admission Officers to stop admission outside CAPS as it poses serious problems to candidates. He also charged the participants to ensure the holding of subsequent meetings as that would give room for the much-needed clarifications on issues discussed at the Policy Meeting.
Alhaji Najeem commended the initiative of the State Coordinator for convening the meeting and recalled that an institution in Ogun State, Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa, had won the sum of 75 Million naira as the most-compliant institution in adhering to admission guidelines in 2019. He expressed hope that more institutions in Ogun State would be awarded prizes in next year edition of the National Admissions Performance Merit Awards (NATAP-M).
While giving the vote of thanks, the Head, SERVICOM/PR Unit of the State Office, Ms. Abiola Adekunle, also thanked Dr. Mrs. Stella Mofunanya, and the Management of the esteemed institution for hosting the meeting. She thanked all the Admission Officers for attending the meeting and urged them to be responsive to the innovations of the Board at all times.
The meeting witnessed an impressive turnout of participants as forty-six Admission Officers from various institutions in the State were in attendance.
