Joint Admission and Matriculation Board(JAMB) and it’s statutory role in the Nigeria’s Educational system.
This article is an overview of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board(JAMB), it also lists its roles in the country’s educational system.
The joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was founded in 1978 under the military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo with the responsibility of ensuring an adequate, hitch free, and uniform standard of conducting Matriculation examination and placing of suitable/qualified candidates into the countries universities.
The Act establishing JAMB was later amended to also solve to the issues of lack of merit ranging from poor standards, nonuniformity, multiple admission so as not to deprive other candidates the opportunity of been admitted into the country’s higher educational institutions, and other challenges encountered by candidates during the admission process.
Higher educational institutions refers to post secondary school education such that can be obtained in universities, polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and other institutions of higher learning which are in line with the standards.
JAMB has a sole responsibility of conducting Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) into Nigeria’s Tertiary institutions.
In a bid to save cost,time and to ensure an equal opportunity for placement into higher institutions, it was modified to Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME) which was formerly University Matriculation Examination(UME).
In time past matriculation examination into universities known as University Matriculation Examination (UME) was been help separately from that of polytechnics, monotechnics and other institutions of higher learning.
Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) enables the admission board(JAMB) to organize a just and an enhanced credible method of selection of candidates into the available spaces in the country’s institutions of higher learning.
JAMB Function in Nigeria Educational System
Below are the sole roles of JAMB in the Nigeria’s Educational system;
1. Providing logistics for the successful conduction of UTME
The board is responsible for the conduct of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). They in turn releases a cut off point as one of the criteria for gaining entry into all the tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The board also has the responsibility of appointing examiners, moderators, invigilators, members of the subject panels and other suitable personnel as deemed fit by the board for a hitch free conduct of the examination.
JAMB also devise various strategies/methods to tackle examination malpractice and other security challenges by the use various security agencies usually Nigerian Security and Civil defence Corps (NSCDC), Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s), etc.
2. Makes sure that standards and eligibility of candidates seeking admission is adhered to
The board helps to ensure that candidate seeking into the country’s tertiary institutions has the required minimum qualifications or its equivalent as part of its requirements for the participation in the Examinations as a prerequisite of gaining admission into tertiary institutions.
Some of the requirements includes the West African School Certificate Examination council (WAEC), the Senior Secondary school Certificate issued by the National Examination Council (NECO), the National Technical Certificate or the National Business Certificate (NTC/NBC) issued by the National Business and Technical Examinations Board(NABTEB), and also Teachers Grade II Certificate.
Candidate preparing to sit for any of the above examination can still apply and also sit for UTME.
3. Designing the structure of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination
JAMB is solely responsible for fixing of date and venue of the examination and also the selection of the modality of the examination which maybe be computer Bases Test (CBT) or paper based. And also the subjects and the duration of the examination.
4. Formulation of syllabus and admission Eligibility
JAMB ensures that the examination syllables are formulated and updated. They also state the eligibility/requirements necessary for candidate in gaining entry into the various Tertiary institutions in the country, such as necessary grade point in the subjects offered in secondary schools and also the necessary cut off point for the various institutions ,they do this in collaboration with the universities bodies and other Tertiary institutions bodies.