Why JAMB demanded for a low cut-off mark

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board on Tuesday said 569, 395 of the 1 . 7 million candidates that wrote this year ’ s UTME scored below 200 marks.
The Registrar , JAMB , Prof . Is - haq Oloyede , disclosed this at the policy meeting of the stakeholders of Tertiary Institutions in Abuja .
He said 23 . 8 per cent of the total number of the candidates scored below 160 marks.
He said the stakeholders unanimously agreed that the minimum cut - off mark for the university degree is to stand at 120 .
The stakeholders, according to him , peg that of Polytechnic to be 100 , College of Education 100 , while National Innovative Enterprise Institution remained at 110 marks.
The registrar said the timelines for admission of first choice was October 15 , while second choice would be December 15 .
Oloyede urged the heads of the various tertiary institutions to set their modalities for admissions exercises as it was not the board’ s responsibility .
He said that no candidate without O ’ Level prerequisite would be offered admission .
“ JAMB has a Central Admissions Processing System to aid you on the admission exercises.
“ CAPS will not replace admission processes of institutions. It will enable institutions to simply communicate with JAMB in a more dynamic and timely manner.
“ It will also allow for flexible cut - off marks and candidates are allowed to make their choice of institution and course , ’’ he said .
The registrar , however , appealed to heads of institutions not to charge more than N2 , 000 for admissions ’ processes .
In his remark , the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu , commended the board for conducting the UTME .
According to him , the stakeholders have worked together to create synergy for the advancement of education in the country.
“ We restate our commitment to ensuring expansion of access to students in our institutions
“ To ensure equity in regard to rural and urban areas ; we are committed to refocusing our curricula to meet our development need , ’’ he said .
Adamu , however , advised heads of institutions to accommodate qualified candidates in the most transparent and flexible manner .
The meeting was attended by stakeholders in both public and private tertiary institutions.
NAN