THE hope of many students seeking admission into
Nigerian universities may be dashed if the admission
screening in 2017 is based on students’ WASSCE results
and Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)
scores. Recall that in 2016, the Minister of Education,
Mallam Adamu Adamu, abolished post-UTME as a means
of admitting candidates into tertiary institutions.
Meanwhile, in 2017, over one million, eight hundred
thousand (1,800,000) students sat for UTME, for a total
of 800,000 admission spaces in tertiary institutions. Going
by the huge number of candidates and limited admission
spaces, various institutions have since 2016, resolved to
admit students by screening and awarding marks to their
WASSCE results and JAMB scores.
Thus, for an institution to select the best students from
the multitude, instead of conducting post-UTME as was
the case previously, all that is needed now is to grade
candidates’ O’Level results and score them over 40 per
cent. The breakdown shows that when a candidate
submits his/her O’Level result for screening, five O’Level
subjects relating to his proposed programme of study
will be examined and marks awarded based on what he
scored in WASSCE.
Hence, A1 is awarded 8%, B2-7%, B3-6%, C4-5%, C5-4%
and C6-3%. Total marks for anyone with five A1s is 40
per cent. What this means is that if a candidate has five
‘A1s’, he has gotten a maximum 40 per cent. A student
with five B2s, would score 35 per cent, five B3s, 30 per
cent, five C4s, gets 25 per cent, five C5s, 20 per cent and
five C6s would score just 15 per cent.
Besides, since institutions discovered that many
candidates who choose their schools have above UTMEs
cut-off marks, they have also graded UTME’s scores into
percentages. If a UTME candidate has 180 to 189, he is
assumed to have scored 10 per cent. If he scored
between 190 and199, he gets 20 per cent. For those who
scored between 200 and 209, they have 30 per cent while
someone who scored between 210 and 219 gets 40 per
cent. Those who scored between 220 and 229, earn 50
per cent and a student with 230 and above gets the
maximum 60 per cent.
Apparently, a student who has five A1s in WASSCE and
also scored 230 and above in UTME, is certrain to be
admitted because he has 40 per cent in WASSCE and 60
per cent in UTME.
Securing admission
For a student with five C6s in WASSCE, and between 190
and 199 in UTME, the chances of securing admission in
public institutions is dicey because he has only scored 15
per cent in WASSCE and 20 per cent in UTME. His total
percentage score is 35 per cent. With this system, it
means that students aspiring to secure admission into
Nigerian public universities must study hard and be
academically sound to obtain A or B grades in WASSCE to
stand a chance.
The initiators of this innovation believe it will propel
students to aim high so as to obtain A1 in five subjects.
Also, the issue of paying for post-UTME and travelling
long distances for the examination would be a thing of
the past.
Exam racketeering
Meanwhile, as good as it appears on the surface, many
stakeholders who spoke with Vanguard disagreed, noting
that the development will breed and promote examination
racketeering in secondary schools and examination
bodies. They argued that some students and parents
could go to any length to obtain the five A1s in order to
guarantee their admission.
Unfortunately, many times, students with C5 and C6 in
their WASSCE results may prove to be better
academically than those with A1 because they read and
wrote the examination themselves, hence the results
represent true reflections of their academic abilities. It
has also been noticed that many students with A1s in
their WASSCE cannot defend such results because the
exams were probably written for them.
Besides, where there is no proper monitoring from
relevant examination authorities, tertiary institutions can
engage in sale of admission to the highest bidders so the
posibility of children of the poor securing admission will
be slim. There had been reports from students about how
their names were once pasted on admission notice
boards, but replaced by other students’ names; a
situation such school authorities could not defend when
contacted.
Admission for highest bidder
Reacting to the scrapping of Post-UTME and using
WASSCE result as yardstick for admission, Olamide
Azeez, a 100-Level student of Yabatech said post-UTME
gives institutions the privilege of knowing the type of
students they want to admit. He added that post-UTME
helped students to prepare more academically before
they enter the university.
Also reacting, Miss Damilola Adeleke, a final year student
of Biology, Yabatech said: “The scrapping of post-UTME
does not favour everybody. Post-UTME helped students to
boost their chances of securing admission into
universities.”
On his part, Mr. Akinbiyi Folorunsho from the Department
of Mathematics of the institution said: ”Without post-
UTME, there will be high rate of examination malpractice
in secondary schools. Post-UTME is preferable because it
will be 50-50 admission chances for every seeker.”
Adeyinka Adebayo, an undergraduate at Laspotech said he
supports post-UTME, adding that there will be high rate
of unadmitted students without post-UTME.
“If care is not taken, the situation will lead to admission
backlog, because many students will keep doing JAMB
every year without hope of getting admission.”
