School reopening: JAMB meets heads of trertiary institutions on new admission date

THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board
(JAMB) is considering a new date for the
commencement of the 2020 admissions processes
from the earlier announced date of 22nd August
2020.
The Board would accordingly meet all the tertiary
institutions on Monday, 10th August 2020, to
brainstorm on the possibility of shifting the
commencement of admissions to a date that would
better accommodate the vagaries of the COVID-19
pandemic.
JAMB made this known in its Weekly Bulletin made
available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday night.
The Board said as a responsive organisation whose
mantra is equity and fairness, it desires that every
aspiring candidate who had taken its Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) be given
equal opportunity to compete with his/her peers for
the available openings.
The Board this was the reason for its call for
another meeting with all the institutions with a view
to amending the earlier and mutually-agreed date
for the conduct of Post-UTME screening and other
processes.
“As intellectuals, it is incumbent on the Board and
the various tertiary institutions to always provide
practical solutions to perceived challenges for the
smooth running of the sector without being
prompted by the government. Such solutions, when
arrived at, would then be forwarded to the relevant
Ministries or Agencies for further inputs and
necessary approvals.
“It is in view of this that the Board is working to
pre-empt any unpalatable situation that may arise if
institutions conduct their admissions without
accommodating the vast number of candidates that
are about to take their O’level examinations.
“Consequently, the Board would, at the meeting, be
looking at the possibility of ensuring that the
various institutions either delay or prolong their
screening exercises to accommodate candidates
who will be taking the 2020 O’level Examinations to
be conducted by WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, etc.
“The public will recall that owing to the lockdown
occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic, candidates
who had sat the Board’s UTME under the Awaiting
Results stipulation were unable to take the Senior
School Certificate Examinations conducted by the
West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), National
Examinations Council (NECO), National Business
and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) etc.,
as scheduled.
“It would also be recalled that owing to the further
relaxation of the COVID-19-inspired restrictions by
the Federal Government, the West African
Examination Council has fixed the commencement
of its examinations from 17th August 2020, and
end them on 12th September 2020; National
Business and Technical Education Board would
conduct its series of examinations from 21st
September 2020, to 15th October 2020, while the
National Examinations Council would commence
its own examination from 5th October and end
same on 17th November 2020,” JAMB stated.