The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on
Thursday, gave N75million award to each of the five best performing tertiary
institutions in Nigeria.
The University of Ilorin won the Most Subscribed Institution
by Candidates award, while Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, won the Most
National Institution in Admission of Candidates.
Federal University, Wukari, Taraba, won the Most Improved
Institution in Gender Balance, while the University of Ilorin again won the
Institution with the Highest Number of Admitted International Students.
Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbese, won the Most
Compliant Institution in keeping to guidelines of admissions.
It was the second edition of the National Tertiary
Admissions Performance Merit Award for 2019.
Congratulating the award recipients, Minister of Education,
Mr Adamu Adamu, lauded JAMB’s efforts at ensuring excellence in tertiary
institutions.
He said that the Federal Government would continue to play a
critical role in teaching, learning and research, adding that the exercise was
one of government’s reward systems and intervention in tertiary institutions.
“In the first edition of the awards in 2019, JAMB supported
tertiary institutions with N125 million and this year. The board is supporting
the sector with N375 million.
“This is no doubt an excellent gesture worthy of emulation.
I am aware that the board’s support for the education sector cuts across the
basic, secondary and tertiary education levels, and it is a good Corporate
Social Responsibility agenda.
“I’m equally aware that many other agencies, the organised
private sector, individuals, NGOs, international agencies and many others are
supporting the education sector in various forms and quantum.
“Contributions to the education sector should not be limited
to the budgetary allocation of the government to the sector.
“This doesn’t negate the reality that education is not
receiving an equitable share of the national budget,” Adamu said.
While I congratulate the institutions that won these awards and commend JAMB for contributing to funding of tertiary education in Nigeria, I like to ask, from where did JAMB get the money they are disbursing for this award? My thinking is that JAMB made this money from milking poor Nigerians in charging high examination fees. It would have made more sense if JAMB had reduced the amount being charged for their examination, that way, millions of the already impoverish Nigerians would benefit.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I wonder if awards such as this one are part of JAMB's statutory duties for which it was set up. It looks to me that this is just showmanship, so we can say JAMB is working. It would suggest that JAMB should concentrate on its mandate and invest more in infrastructure and systems that will help it conduct more credible and hitch free examination at low and affordable charges.