No alternative to Post-UTME —ASUU, ASUP insist

Experts in education on Thursday condemned the suspension of the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by universities and other institutions, urging the Federal Government to regularise the examination instead.

This position was taken at a summit held at the University of Lagos, and organised by Education Writers’ Association (EWAN), a body of journalists who report education in the print, broadcast and online media.

Delivering the keynote address, the former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, said the most logical step is to restructure the post-UTME, and not to scrap it.

“It is therefore a mistake in the long term interest of quality of the Nigerian university system to abrogate POST-UTME,” he said.

Also echoing this, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), former Minister of Education, Professor Chinwe Obaji, in their separate presentations, described the cancellation as unnecessary.

Also speaking, the National President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, said it is the “primary responsibility” of the Senate of each university to admit and graduate students for the institutions. He said ASUU would continue to fight the suspension of the post-UTME.

The summit which was tagged “Integrity of Public Examinations and Admission in Nigeria” was presided over by the Secretary of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), Professor Michael Faborode, and also attended by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Rahamon Bello.