Another drawback in education

WHEN the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced that it would soon release its own cut-off marks for admission into higher institutions, I was expecting something better than what we had last year. National development becomes easier when development manifests vividly in our education. At the very least, the board should have maintained last year’s scores. Having a score below average (200) as the benchmark for admission into universities for first degrees is not only ridiculous, but also demeaning. I didn’t know that probably the worst in years would be the case this time around when we are supposed to have moved to a level in which we can have pride in our education. If the board gave attention to the teeming youths seeking admission, should it disregard the needs of the institutions and Nigeria at large? Of course, a university can choose to use 200, but the fact that a candidate with 120 can be considered for admission drives our education backward and belittles what we should cherish and make golden. Do we want to be admitting candidates with 30 per cent score to study engineering, medical and educational courses? We are getting it really, really wrong.

It is unfortunate that these candidates are the ones parading themselves with “sophisticated” grades in their SSCE results. Something is abnormal. Expectedly, those who sat and passed the 2016 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examination Council (NECO) wrote the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). If otherwise, we can conclude that many an aspirant would have had their SSCE results before putting in for UTME. So, nauseating results in the entrance exam should be least expected. 52.97 per cent obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics in May/June 2016 WASSCE. And 88.51 per cent success was recorded in NECO. It is ridiculous to hear that less than 23.8 per cent, and over one million of the 1.7 million candidates scored below average. Their performances in the 0’level examinations should, as a matter of fact, reflect on the entrance exam, or else, neither WASSCE nor NECO can be deemed efficient and effective in the conduct of examinations.

We have almost the same syllabus being operated by all of the examination bodies. How do we describe a candidate who has A1, B2, B3 and other good grades, but cannot make 200 in the UTME? And then JAMB stooped so low by pegging the cut-off mark at 120. The situation calls for a comprehensive investigation to check where the error lies. The two SSCE examination bodies might have lost what it takes to conduct reliable and valid tests. Candidates are tested on both multiple choice questions and theory (some subjects even include practicals) in the two secondary examinations, whereas JAMB sets multiple choice questions, which are easier to pass. The failure, perhaps, arises from the major challenge, examination malpractice, which is confronting the educational system. It shows that the results obtained from the schools are not valid.

To worsen the horrible situation, the grades in the results determine a lot in the admission process now that the point system rules. With an SSCE result alone, a candidate could have up to 50 points. Why would such a candidate bore themselves with the UTME? The idea that the Post-UTME screening exercise be scrapped is a terrible mistake and obstacle to educational development in Nigeria. The prospective students then considered the school-organised tests more challenging and demanding than all other exams. They prepared extensively because it is rare to have any leak or loophole. Once their greatest fear had been removed nationally and they can maneuver in both WASSCE and NECO, complacency comes in. They rely on mercenaries to help them sail through the exams.

Have we ever heard of any form of widespread malpractice, say, in the OAU’s post-UTME exercise?  How can we explain a candidate who has an excellent result in Literature, but can’t make fifty out of 100 in another test with almost the same features? It is really absurd. Let’s assume that those candidates with less than 160 (40%) are offered or considered for admissions as proposed by JAMB. What sort of students do we expect them to be? One cannot give what one lacks. 120 (30%) is equivalent to an F in the universities they are aspiring to attend. If their primary and secondary schools couldn’t bring out the best in them, do we have to look up to the tertiary institutions? Potential future teachers who will teach and impart knowledge later are expected to have just 100 (25%) to qualify for admission into colleges of education. And we think the system is fine? What future are we then building? Universities, polytechnics and colleges of education cannot perform miracles on the “below average” students.

Academic excellence is out of reach, elusive, as we compromise just to ensure admissions are given. We complain that many undergraduates are unemployable, and that they can’t defend what they have. It is not necessary to bombard our classrooms, libraries and laboratories with unqualified students who can only add to the rot in the system. If only a few have the required academic capabilities, let them be admitted and trained in the universities. It will become worrisome when many of the 569,395 candidates do not gain admission. The federal character’s tentacles should be stopped from reaching education, a springboard to development.  To clear the mess, it is good that the post-UTME test has been restored, though the schools must not charge more than N2,000 for admission processes. There would be no need for more rigorous tests if the existing ones (WASSCE, NECO and UTME) were defined by comprehensiveness, reliability, validity and durability. With the reintroduction of university tests for the aspirants, JAMB does not need to drop its benchmark to an amusing level.

• Faboade writes in from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.