DE registration: JAMB bars institutions running unapproved programmes

MANY tertiary institutions running unapproved programmes were denied access to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)’s portal for the purpose of purchasing Direct Entry forms in the just-concluded Direct Entry (DE) registration.

Registrar of JAMB, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, who revealed this at a meeting with the leadership of Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN), justified the action of the board, noting that the board only granted access to institutions or organisations that complied with guidelines.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the JAMB registrar had met with a delegation from the CHPRBN in his office in Bwari.

The leader of the delegation, Professor Abdullahi Sabo Muhammed, had earlier complained of the inability of their candidates to process their DE forms as they were unable to access their profiles on the JAMB portal while those that opted for the UTME route had as a footnote on their admission letter the term  ‘illegitimate’.

Oloyede pointed out that JAMB was saddled with the responsibility of managing accessibility to institutions and candidates and would always uphold that mandate diligently.

He added that the board would only grant access to erring institutions after they had done due diligence and complied with all regulations stipulated by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and other relevant institutions.

Oloyede said it had come to the notice of the board that many institutions flagrantly run programmes and award certificates that were not approved by their regulatory agencies and candidates, who were not qualified, ab initio, for Direct Entry were enrolled for such programmes to acquire certification for it, thereby circumventing the system.

He told the delegation that as a result of these observations, many institutions which were noted to have abused the system by running diploma programmes without necessary approvals were removed from the list of institutions on the board’s platform and denied access to the board’s portal until they do the right thing.

Professor Oloyede also reminded the CHPRBN delegation of the Federal Government’s circular as issued by the Federal Ministry of Education to all statutory and regulatory agencies prohibiting organisations and institutions that are yet to get approval or proper certification from the ministry to operate.

He therefore, advised CHPRBN to support the reforms as a key player by doing the right thing at all times and getting necessary approvals from the NBTE to run National Diploma(ND), Higher National Diploma(HND) in Community Health before commencing the issuance of any certification or  licence.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation of CHPRBN, Professor Abdullahi Sabo Muhammed, gave a brief history and scope of the operational processes of his board and stated that their mission to JAMB, aside from registering complaints on access denial, was to plead with its leadership for a waiver for all candidates who had finished their diploma programmes from past years so as to advance the pursuit of their careers.

CHPRBN also appealed to JAMB to amend its brochure to read “Bachelors of Community Health (Bcho)” and not “Bachelors of Sciences “(B.Sc.) while the duration should be two years as against the four years hitherto stated in the brochure.

Meanwhile, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commissioned a 1000-seater Mega Professional Test Centres in Kaduna, which is currently adjudged to be one of the biggest Professional Test Centres in Nigeria and, indeed, Africa as a whole.

The project would give all prospective candidates in Kaduna State and its environs, the opportunity to effortlessly access any UTME-related services.