FG dares Varsities: Conduct Post-UTME, face sanctions

Abuja—Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, yesterday, reiterated the Federal Government’s ban on Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, Post-UTME, conducted by tertiary institutions for admission into universities and other higher schools of learning in the country. Adamu told journalists in Abuja that any institution that violates the directive will be punished by the Federal Government. He said: “The ban is with immediate effect and under no circumstance should any institution violate the directive. Those who have already advertised for the conduct of the Post-UTME under any guise should stop the exercise immediately. “If any tertiary institution has already conducted Post-UTME, such an exercise stands annulled and money taken from candidates must be refunded immediately.” He said the emphasis had become necessary to ensure that no stakeholder was left in doubt about government’s position on the matter. He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, any educational institution, after secondary education, is regarded as a tertiary institution. Therefore, all tertiary institutions, by whatever name it is called, after secondary education, must be subjected to admission through JAMB.” He added that universities were at liberty to expel any student who failed to meet up with the requirements for any degree enrolled for. He said there was no empirical evidence to show that since the inception of Post-UTME, universities had been having better students, adding that students were still being expelled annually for low performance, even as they gained admission through Post-UTME. He said parents and guardians spend fortunes on transportation, hotel accommodation, examination fees and sundry costs, just for their wards to gain admission into universities; while in some cases, parents die in the process of travelling to secure admission for their wards, a situation he described as painful and avoidable. Adamu directed the National Universities Commission, NUC, and the appropriate departments in the ministry to communicate this directive to relevant agencies and institutions to ensure strict compliance.