JAMB VC says UTME exams should be conducted bi-annually

Prof. Rotimi Ajayi has suggested that UTME be conducted twice a year instead of extending its validity.

The Vice-Chancellor of Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State, Prof. Rotimi Ajayi, has urged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to conduct the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination UTME twice a year.

The VC said this on Wednesday, November 9, while leading a team from Crawford University on a courtesy visit to The Punch Place, the corporate headquarters of PUNCH Nigeria Limited along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Ajayi suggested this move over what he describes as the ill-informed decision of the Senate to extend the validity of results from one to three years.

He said that this would boost the chances of candidates, adding that extending the validity of the UTME results would destroy the spirit of academic excellence among Nigerian students.

“I hope the extension of the UTME results will not defeat the spirit of academic excellence. The Senate was not well advised. And that was why JAMB rejected it because the Senate did not carry it along. Rather than extend the validity of the UTME results, what I will suggest is that JAMB should run exams more than once in a year, may be twice or thrice to give more candidates the opportunity of getting admission,” Ajayi said.

He also noted that over a million candidates who were qualified for admission would not be admitted this year due to lack of space in the universities.Ajayi asked that government universities be strengthened in terms of infrastructure and manpower as well as licensing of more private varsities.