Campus Cable

JAMB: Tertiary institutions, NOT students, tasked with declaring illegal admission

August 16, 2024 10:27 am

An illustrative image of students thronging the JAMB office.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it is more the responsibility of tertiary institutions to declare illegal admissions, not the students themselves.

In early August, JAMB gave tertiary institutions in Nigeria a one-month ultimatum to declare all their illegal admissions.

Accepting candidates into a tertiary institution without Nigeria’s central admissions processing system (CAPS), which is overseen by JAMB, amounts to an illegal admission.

In 2017, JAMB introduced CAPS as an online portal to centralise and grant tertiary education admissions for transparency.

Over one million were later discovered to have been admitted outside CAPS between 2017 and 2020.

Following a ministerial waiver, these admissions were regularised due to their overwhelming number.

JAMB thereafter threatened to sanction any vice chancellor, provost, or rector who subsequently admitted illegally.

It said the window for the mop-up of pre-2017 unregistered admissions had been on for seven years but was being abused.

JAMB said some institutions continued to admit outside of CAPS and attempted to beat the system by backdating these admissions.

In a statement by its PRO Fabian Benjamin, JAMB reemphasised its August 31 deadline for the one-time disclosure of illegal admissions.

The board said candidates have been thronging its offices to self-report issues related to non-disclosure of admissions outside CAPS.

“While we appreciate the enthusiasm, we must correct the misconception that the focus is on candidates’ actions,” it said.

“The true emphasis lies with the institutions, which must disclose all candidates admitted outside CAPS before the August 31st, 2024 deadline. This directive requires immediate attention and compliance.

“We urge institutions to carefully review our initial letter and ensure full compliance, as failure to disclose will result in severe consequences.

“Candidates are also reminded not to accept admissions outside CAPS.”