Senate on Thursday passed the bill approving the extension of the validity of the results of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) being conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to three years.
The extension was contained in the new amendments made to the Act establishing the board.
If eventually assented to by the President, the law will allow the life span of any JAMB examination result to operate for three years, meaning that any JAMB result obtained by any candidate would still be useful for admission in three years.
The bill entitled; “An Act to Amend the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Act and for other matters connected thereof, 2016 (SB. 245)”, passed third reading yesterday in plenary.
Chairman of the Committee on Tertiary education, Senator Jibrin Barau, (APC, Kano North), while fielding questions from newsmen after the passage of the bill, explained that the purpose of the bill was to amend the JAMB Act to increase the validity period of its examination from one academic year to three academic years.
According to him, the Board shall only conduct matriculation examinations as the sole examinations required for admission and entry into all Universities, Polytechnics (by whatever name called) and Colleges of Education, to the exclusion of any other institution or body.
He said section 6 (1) of the new Act states that; “Any examination conducted by the Board pursuant to the powers conferred by this Act shall be valid for a period of three academic years from the date of the examination.
“A candidate meeting the requirements for admission and being duly qualified shall remain so qualified for the period prescribed in subsection (1) of this section.
“A candidate awaiting admission shall be given preference in the succeeding year over fresh applicants who shall only become eligible when the backlog had been cleared.”
The Senate had directed its Committee on Education to enquire into circumstances surrounding the JAMB policy, including all allegations of favouritism and generally review the power of the Board vis-a-vis administration and submit its findings to it.
The red chamber, which order came following a motion entitled: “JAMB’s New Admission Policy”, sponsored by Senator Joshua Lidani (APC, Gombe South), which was debated during plenary, also urged JAMB to consult widely with Parents Teachers Association, ASUU and all other stakeholders in the education sector with a view to coming out with a friendlier holistic, comprehensive and sustainable admissions policy.
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