Direct entry candidates into Nigerian universities to sit UTME
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that candidates seeking direct entry admission into any Nigerian university will now be made to sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Before the new development, only candidates without a diploma or other requirement for direct entry, are made to sit the UTME to gain admission into the universities. But holders of requirements for direct entry admission are only permitted to register without sitting examinations.
However, in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by its Head of Public Affairs and Protocol Unit, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB said going forward, direct entry candidates would have to sit the UTME like their fellow first-year applicants, to prove the authenticity of the certificates they present for direct entry admission.
JAMB said the new development is part of the measures to curb the malpractices already identified with direct entry applications.
This is as the examination body has once again remitted the sum of N2 billion into the cover of the Nigerian government, saying it is the interim surplus for the 2023 operating year.
On UTME for DE candidates
According to the statement by JAMB, the decision was taken at the management committee meeting held “to appraise the recent crisis witnessed in the conduct of the 2023 Direct Entry registration.” It added that the seeming crisis was caused by the implementation of some of its “newly-adopted processes aimed at curbing infractions in the admission value chain given our national peculiarities.”
JAMB’s statement reads in part: “Another major policy change also to be implemented by the Board to holistically address all loopholes giving rise to abuses in the Direct Entry admission processes is that all DE candidates, which comprise those seeking to be in Year Two in the universities, would henceforth be required to sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination UTME along with other candidates for them to justify the possession of their A’ level certificates.
“This policy is to be situated within the ambit of the Board’s relentless efforts aimed at enhancing the growth of the nation’s education sector as it would promote transparency, accountability, and good governance. It also underscores the Board’s commitment and determination towards changing the negative narrative of A’ level admissions into higher institutions in Nigeria.”
