Follow Us on Google
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) disclosed, on Monday, that, at least, 1,665 fake A’level results were detected during the 2023 Direct Entry (DE) registration exercise.
This may, perhaps, be responsible for the decision of JAMB to strengthen the system and tighten its verification guidelines for DE candidates for the 2024 DE examination.
This was contained in JAMB weekly bulletin released in Abuja, on Tuesday.
It noted that JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, at a meeting with leadership of the National Association of Nigeria Colleges of Education Students (NANCES) in Abuja, confirmed that the strict A’level results verification regime was occasioned by the endemic corruption associated with the system, and also was intended to restore the integrity of the component of admission process.
He said that out of the figure, 397 were from Colleges of Education, while 453 were university diplomas and the rest for other A’level certificates, stressing that it should be of grave concern if no one respects the certificate one is holding, hence the need to safeguard the integrity of A’level certificates that is used to secure admission through measures that would stand the test of time.
Prof. Oloyede said: “In the past, when candidates apply for DE, the Board would simply ask awarding institutions to do the necessary screening and due diligence. But JAMB was dumbfounded by the revelations from the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), whereby out of the 148 DE applications to the institution, only six of the certificates forwarded for processing were genuine.
“It was the discovery of this monumental fraud that prompted the meeting of critical stakeholders, who met to chart ways of combating the menace. Their suggestion was the constitution of an A’level result verification task force, as well as the creation of a common platform for the verification of A’level results and certificates which was reliable, user-friendly, and takes five minutes to verify any given certificate.”
Prof. Oloyede said the Board has put in place a “No verification, No admission” policy to underscore the importance attached to the screening exercise.
He disclosed that 15 institutions have not sufficiently complied with verification requests from the Board, insisting that the affected institutions with more than 20 unverified candidates would have to pre-verify candidates applying with their certificates before they could complete their DE registration process.
“The idea is that candidates should go ahead and register for the DE, while the school verify them at the backend. But the 15 institutions which were yet to fully comply must have to pre-verify holders of their certificates before they could complete their DE registration,” he insisted.
NANCES President, Comrade Egunjobi Samuel, in his remarks, commended the Registrar for his good works, particularly in restoring sanity, integrity and credibility in the admission processes.
He said the essence of the visit was to register complaints from their members about the seemingly-intractable challenges being faced in the ongoing 2024 DE registration, as well as ask for more DE registration centres.
“But with the explanation offered, the Association was sufficiently equipped with requisite information and knowledge on the rationale behind the various advisories issued by JAMB. We would educate our members on the rationale behind the verification of certificates which is being done with the best of intentions,” he said.
