All admissions in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions for the 2020/2021 academic session would end by June 15, 2021, heads of tertiary institutions in the country have agreed.
The decision was collectively taken at a virtual meeting with heads of tertiary institutions in the country on Wednesday, February 24.
Speaking during the meeting, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB), said the meeting with the institutions was aimed at knowing the level they had reached on the 2020/21 Admissions scale.
According to him, the essence of the interactive meeting was to forestall an endless admission regime generated by the series of disruptions to daily life occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the meeting would enable the Board to put necessary machinery in place for the 2021/2022 UTME/DE Registration Exercise.
The Registrar had earlier informed the gathering of eminent scholars that only 30% of institutions had started admissions into the 2020/2021 Academic Session.
He stated there was the need to collectively decide when to close the 2020/2021 Admission Exercise. He added that the proposal was for Public Universities to end admissions four weeks ahead of Private Universities, the Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and IEIs.
After a robust and insightful deliberation, members collectively agreed that all public universities are expected to finish their admissions on or before May 15, while the private universities and all IEIs, polytechnics and COEs would complete theirs at the agreed date of June 15, 2021.
Prof.Oloyede reiterated that the chosen deadlines remained sacrosanct and binding on all institutions as the Board would not tolerate any breaches of the collective decision reached at the meeting.
He said the Board would announce in a week’s time the commencement date for the sale of application documents for the 2021/2022 Academic Session.
Meanwhile, the Board has urged all institutions to adhere strictly to all advisories issued to them on inter/intra-university transfers, foreign inter-university transfers and fresh foreign candidates, change of programmes and institutions and other essential processes related to admission in order to avoid unnecessary bickerings that could endanger the future of innocent candidates and their subsequent mobilization for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He added these advisories and procedures were to serve as guides for them on how to handle the various issues as they arose.
The Registrar disclosed that transfer of candidates within institutions locally or internationally is an acceptable process as approved by the senate or council of the respective institutions but said that due process must be followed.
He pointed out that the Board, as a responsible organisation and gatekeeper, would not allow the process to be circumvented to allow unqualified candidates to gain access to our institutions.
“JAMB would not be a party to any improper transfer or breach of set guidelines adding that adequate measures or checks must be done to verify if such candidates meet minimum requirements or possess the prerequisite qualifications to be in the institution in the first instance,” he said.
