Reps move once more to extend the validity of UTME result. The MPs requested JAMB to make its results legitimate for at least three years and to hold the entrance tests at least twice a year.
The House of Reps has launched new efforts to extend the validity of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
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Following a motion filed by Akintunde Rotimi (APC, Lagos), the lower chamber voted on Wednesday that the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) should extend the validity of the UTME result from one year to three years.
Tolulope Shadipe (APC, Oyo) introduced a bill in the Ninth Assembly to prolong the validity for four years.
The bill attempted to change sections 5(1a) and 5(2) of the main statute. It was not, however, passed before the previous House of Reps adjourned the case.
Mr Rotimi stated in his argument that the one-year validity of UTME results is not in line with present reality.
“If candidates cannot secure admission into any tertiary institution of their choice during the academic year in which the exam was taken, the result, no matter how good, becomes useless,” Mr Rotimi explained.
Because other examinations, such as the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO), have indefinite validity, the lawmaker believes the UTME results should be valid for three years.
He voiced concern over the “backlog of candidates waiting for admission into Nigeria’s limited vacancies in tertiary institutions, as well as the attendant pressure on the education system and parents.”
Mr Rotimi added that despite the interruptions created by the academic staff union’s strikes, JAMB remained steadfast about the one-year validity.
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“Despite ASUU’s incessant strikes, which resulted in the loss of an entire academic calendar, JAMB continued to administer its examinations without recourse to ASUU’s industrial action,” he stated.
He encouraged “the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to reconsider and allow its results to be valid for at least three (three) years, as well as to conduct the entry exams at least twice a year.”
