I don’t have a problem with JAMB candidates but their parents, says registrar

Is-haq Oloyede, registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on Wednesday said parents of candidates sitting for the unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME), have been the board’s major challenge.

He described as alarming the desperation of parents and level at which they go to ensure that their children get admissions at all cost, irrespective of the consequences involved.

Oloyede pointed out that the situation has continued to give the board consistent concern.

He spoke today during a meeting with the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption in Abuja.

“The greatest problem we have is with the parents, I do not have problems with the candidates. But the parents have gone haywire,” he said.

“They compromise the process because while the students are writing the examinations, you see some of the parents seeking for any assistance that can be given to make their children pass.”

Oloyede recalled that during the 2018 UTME, some parents of candidates who were caught for engaging in malpractices did not play the proper parental role.

According to him, while one mother requested that her daughter’s mark be automatically increased because a Test Centre operator tried to molest her, another mother pushed her eldest son to write the examination for the younger one.

“Some parents go as far as paying huge sums of money into fraudulent accounts online to upgrade their children’s results. We have advertised recently, that anybody who pays into such accounts would be tracked and disqualified because these fraudsters openly advertise that if you want help on JAMB pay into certain accounts.

“Parents are paying into these accounts but we have involved the Department of State Services and the police and some of them have been arrested already.”

The act, he said, has continued to give the board a second view of what transpires outside its domain, through which it is able to monitor the illegal operations.

Oloyede said the board would continue to give its best in ensuring that its credibility is sustained, despite the challenges at hand.

Speaking on the issue of cut off mark, the registrar explained that it is necessary to understand that it is the point that allows you to know at what point you are not allowed “into the basket.”

He said the cut off point goes beyond attaining just the UTME scores but includes all the requirements of the admission process.

He explained this varies from one institution to another, adding that people must erase from their minds, the perception that the higher a cut off mark of an institution, the more credible the institution is.

Oloyede said that it is the duty of the board to ensure that it supervises and guarantees that no one is surcharged.

“The Law that established JAMB makes it clear that JAMB will admit in conjunction with the institutions,” he said.

According to the registrar, there are 25 countries with similar bodies like JAMB in the world and what they do is conduct the examinations and make the results available to the institutions.

“At what point the institutions intend to cut off is at their discretion,” he said.

Earlier, Itse Sagay, chairman of the committee, said the purpose of the visit by the committee was to learn more about how the board has managed its success and challenges, especially on the issue of results and admissions.

Other issues, he said that need attention were those of the cut off marks for admissions as well factors militating against the progress of the system.

Sagay also said the committee was there to get an update on the issue of JAMB staff who allegedly looted the board’s funds and steps being taken by the board to bring them to book.