Chidimma UCHEGBU
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has advised the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) to direct their grievances regarding the non-mobilisation of some Higher National Diploma (HND) students for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to the appropriate authorities.
Speaking during a meeting with the leadership of NAPS at JAMB headquarters in Bwari, Abuja, on Friday, JAMB’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, clarified that the Board does not oversee the admission of HND students and therefore has no role in their mobilisation for the NYSC.
Oloyede, who expressed surprise that JAMB is being targeted by the association on the issue, described the action as born out from sheer ignorance of the mandate of the Board.
“You are wasting your time talking to someone who has no involvement in the matter. If something affects you, the first step is to identify the root cause so that you don’t apply the wrong solution to a problem that does not exist,” Oloyede said.
He explained that JAMB’s mandate is limited to conducting examinations for admission into universities, national diploma (ND), and Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes, not HND programmes.
“We admit students for ND programmes. Once you graduate and seek HND admission, JAMB has no further role. HND admissions are conducted by individual institutions,” he added.
Oloyede also addressed concerns over part-time polytechnic programmes, stating that his criticism was only directed at “Daily Part-Time” schemes designed to exploit students.
He also blamed some of the challenges of affected students to institutions that admit more than the capacity specified by the NBTE.
“NBTE asks them to admit 100 students for instance, they will take that 100 and register them for full time ND. They will take another 1000 and they will be teaching them in the same class and will say those ones are part-time.,” he said.
He also disclosed that there was a challenge of correlation between the ND which the students have acquired and the HND which in most cases are acquired in different institutions.
He advised NAPS to thoroughly investigate the problem to uncover the root causes and solutions.
“Go and study the problem in detail, and if you do, you will find the solution,” he advised.
Addressing allegations of extortion by JAMB officials in the South-South zone, Oloyede disclosed that the Board had received an anonymous petition and had deployed a team to investigate the claims.
He, however, called o students who had accused some JAMB officials of extortion in the name of “regularisation” to come out with evidence, adding that any staff found culpable would face the full wrath of the law.
“About 99 percent of JAMB staff is honest, but any bad eggs will be identified and dealt with appropriately,” Oloyede stated.
Oloyede also disclosed that given that many of the candidates who take the UTME are underaged, the Board is considering limiting physical contacts with candidates with challenges to avoid any alleged issue of extortion and other forms of exploitation.
He stated that interaction will be limited online with calls recorded for effective monitoring.
The NAPS leadership, led by National President Comrade Ridwan Opeyemi and Senate President Adeniki Temitope, expressed satisfaction with Oloyede’s explanations and pledged to engage the appropriate authorities to resolve the mobilisation issue.
