Chidimma UCHEGBU
Following the introduction of the Interactive e-Brochure and e-Syllabus System (IBASS), by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the agency on Monday, commenced training of all administrative staff of tertiary institutions to keep them abreast of the workings of the new platform
The training which was held at the six geo-political zones of the country, simultaneously had most of the Vice Chancellors, Provosts, Rectors and other administrative staff of tertiary institutions in attendance.
Recall that JAMB had recently announced full automation of its administration and other communication processes to all its stakeholders as a means of eliminating bureaucracy.
The Board mulled the policy after reviewing bottlenecks associated with communicating or interfacing with various institutions regarding admission processes. The new policy is expected to begin in January 2023.
From January, the board will refrain from receiving any physical letter from any institution or agency except through its Interactive e-Brochure and e-Syllabus System (IBASS).
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who declared the North Central Zonal workshop opened through a virtual conference at the College of Education, Federal Capital Territory, Zuba, Abuja, assured that correspondence between JAMB and individual institutions would be individualised, which meant that such communication would not be open to third parties like in the case of WhatsApp.
Welcoming participants to the North Central workshop, Dr Sule Mundi, Provost, College of Education, Zuba, lauded JAMB for innovations in its test system.
He said the new initiative would go a long way in further strengthening education in the country.
“Oloyede is really a reformer in JAMB, as he has put every system in place to reduce to the barest minimum hardened corruption and ineptitude in the examination body.
“I have no doubt that your impressive turn-out by the show of attendance and intention to participate in this training is a testimony of your appreciation of the invaluable role of JAMB in continuously finding ways to improve methods of identifying and placing suitably qualified candidates in the available places in all our schools.
“This meeting and training are intended to brainstorm on the interactive e-Brochure and e-Syllabus System otherwise refer to as the Interactive Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS). We, therefore, wish to welcome our distinguished facilitators who will be leading us and getting us familiar with this groundbreaking process of automation of curriculum, accreditation, admission, and general administration matters between the Board, tertiary institutions and their regulatory agencies.
“It is my deep conviction that the understanding of this training will ensure seamless communication between JAMB, institutions and their regulatory agencies in addition to providing candidates with the various admission requirements needed from them from their prospective tertiary institutions,” Dr Sule Mundi, Provost, College of Education, Zuba stated.
Oloyede while announcing the takeoff of the policy earlier, had explained that the automation of curriculum, accreditation and general administration matters among JAMB, regulatory agencies and Institutions will provide personalised services to the institutions and agencies as only JAMB and the institution will be able to see any communication on the platform.
“We discovered that we spend our time attending to letters from some major stakeholders of the board, notably, National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE). Apart from these stakeholders, we also receive correspondence from 890 institutions across the country.
“The regulatory agencies often appeal to us for approval of new programmes and accreditation of programmes. And what we receive from institutions is essentially about admissions and registration or accreditation of new courses or quota issues.
“With this platform, if NUC approves admission quota, it would be centralised in such a way that as soon as you see ‘approved’, everybody will see it and there is no need to write to JAMB,” he initially explained.
Besides the COE, Zuba for the North Central; the meeting was also held simultaneously in ABU, Zaria for the North West; Federal Polytechnic Bauchi for the North West as well as UI for the South West.
Others are the University of Port Harcourt for the South-South and UNN for the South-east.
