JAMB News Update: Former University lecturer, Dr. Adebayo Oyeyemi, has advised the in-coming Minister of Education to scrap the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), saying it has outlived its usefulness.

Speaking in Lagos at the weekend with education reporters, Dr. Oyeyemi  explained that JAMB has failed since it could not place students who passed its exams into the universities of their choices without passing other exams in those universities.

Oyeyemi, who is the proprietor of the Good Shepherd Group of Schools, Meiran, Lagos, said: “Alternatively, let the in-coming minister critically review JAMB if it must remain. If a student passes JAMB exams and could not secure admission that year, he should be allowed to tender it for admission in the following years; JAMB exam should have a lifespan of about five years.”

Dr Oyeyemi, who is also a senior pastor of the Deeper life of Bible Church, called on the would-be-minister to urgently look into the nation’s new education curriculum to realise its full potential, pointing out that presently tertiary institutions, particularly universities would need to synchromise their requirements to meet its demand.

The don expressed disappointment that some subject combinations in the curriculum contrast those for admission into universities, which still use old requirements.

“University requirements are different from what we have in the new curriculum,” Dr Oyeyemi said, adding:“We have schools that follow this curriculum but in the end their children could not secure admission to universities.  For instance, if a child is going to study Engineering, the curriculum specifies that that child does not need Chemistry or Biology.”

He added: “In the curriculum, there are five compulsory subjects-English, Maths, Trade, Civic and Computer. Then a student picks three or four subjects from his area of specialisation and then one elective from the four divisions, Humanities, Business, Science, as well as Mathematics and Technology.

“To be more specific, Business and Technology are having crisis. The new curriculum does not make it compulsory for a student to do Biology, Chemistry or Physics but other subjects like Basic Electronics, Basic Electricity, Food and Nutrition and Technical Drawing. But if a child should follow that, he would not get admission into universities which still base their requirements on the old curriculum which states that a child who wants to study Engineering should have Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

“Again, government removed Economics from Commercials and put it under Humanities but universities are still requiring Economics for commercial students. Some schools started doing Economics when JAMB recommended Economics in the UTME and many of those students failed woefully.’’

Identifying curriculum, infrastructure and manpower as the three major components of a school system, Oyeyemi further kicked against the scenario where, except in Lagos schools, there is dearth of facilities in most public schools nationwide to meet up the Trade recommended in the curriculum.

He attributed the development to policy somersault and failure of policy formulators to take a cue from realities from the field (school) before coming up with the policy, resulting in complexities and, often, inability of schools to interpret such policy.

APPLY AS A SKILLED WORKER IN CANADA RECRUITMENT

Hello Visitors!

Jobs and similar opportunities like this are listed daily on our platforms, and as such, it is important to take due advantage of that.

Here is how:

View today's jobs