TERTIARY institutions may be prevailed upon to delay the screening of admission seekers for the 2020/2021 academic session, it was learnt on Sunday.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and heads of all tertiary institutions are billed for a meeting today to discuss the possibility of shifting the commencement of admission processes to a new date.
The Nation learnt that a date may be picked in September for the kick-off of admission processes for 2020/2021 academic session.
On the table for discussion is the possibility of institutions either delaying or prolonging their screening exercises to accommodate candidates who will be taking the 2020 O’ level examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examination Council and National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) would be put on the table during the meeting.
In June, during its policy meeting at its Headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, the board had announced that this year’s admission would commence on August 22.
The closure of schools as a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting the about 1, 352, 988 candidates who scored 120 and above in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Most of them are candidates with awaiting results. The same applies to 930, 305 candidates that scored 160 and above.
Following Federal Government’s decision to reopen schools for pupils in Senior Secondary School (SSS3) to participate in the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) scheduled to begin on August 17, the board convened a meeting to discuss the possibility asking institutions to either delay or prolong their admission processes to allow pupils with awaiting results upload the required O’ level.
JAMB, in its weekly bulletin released by its Head of Information and Media Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said: “As a responsible organisation whose mantra is equity and fairness, the board desires that every aspiring candidate who had its UTME be given equal opportunity to compete with his/her peers for the available openings.
“This is the reason for its call for another meeting with all the institutions with a view to amending the earlier mutually agreed date for the conduct of Post-UTME screening and other processes.
“As intellectuals, it is incumbent on the board and the various tertiary institutions to always provide practical solutions to perceived challenges for the smooth running of the sector without being prompted by the government.
“Such solutions, when arrived at, would then be forwarded to the relevant ministries, agencies for further inputs and necessary approvals.
“It is in view of this that the board is working to pre-empt any unpalatable situation that may arise if institution conduct their admissions without accommodating the vast number of candidates that are about to take their O’ level examinations.
“Consequently, the board would at the meeting, be looking at the possibility of ensuring that the various institutions either delay or prolong their screening exercises to accommodate candidates who will be taking the 2020 O’ level examinations conducted by the WAEC and NABTEB.”
