Senate’s decision on JAMB will cause confusion – ABUAD VC

• As varsity rues economic effect on students’ resumption

THE Vice Chancellor of the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD),

Professor Michael Ajisafe, has said that the bill, receiving attention in the Senate, to make Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) results valid for three years, will cause confusion in the tertiary education sector.

Professor Ajisafe, who addressed a press conference on Friday to mark the commencement of activities for the fourth convocation ceremonies of ABUAD, faulted the acceptance of the bill, saying it would create problems in the system.

The Vice Chancellor revealed that 61 of the 912 graduating students of the institution bagged first class degrees and 23 students were rusticated in the last one session over their involvement in vandalism.

He also announced that the university will confer honourary doctorate degrees on Professor Cynthia Jackson-Hammond, President of the Central State University, Ohio, USA; two business moguls, Dr Cosmas Maduka and Chief Raymond Zard.

Explaining his position on the move by the Senate, he said “there is a problem in that,” pointing out that “even with the cut off of 180, universities are admitting only about five per cent of candidates who are qualified for admission and you now want to add to the load of the backlog. That will create a problem.”

The VC averred that the passage of the bill by the Senate would make admission to be more problematic in the Nigerian universities, saying “the senate would have taken cognizance of the fact that each university has an admission quota every year.

“And a situation whereby a university that can’t even cope with a year quota is now being dragged into admitting students who had qualified for the past three years will make admission policy more cumbersome. So, to us in this university, we believe problem will come from there.”