JAMB: 2013 UTME to Hold as Scheduled

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation
Board (JAMB) has said the 2013 Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)
will hold as scheduled on April 27, 2013.
JAMB’s statement came on the heels of
the endorsement given by the House of
Representatives to the federal
government for its decision to cancel
UTME, scrap the National Examinations
Council (NECO) and National Poverty
Eradication Programme (NAPEP), among
other agencies, in a move aimed at
streamlining the public sector and
reducing the cost of governance.
A source in the presidency had explained
on Tuesday that the overhaul of the public
sector was in line with the
recommendations of the Presidential
Committee on the Rationalisation and
Restructuring of Federal Government
Parastatals and Commissions led by
former Head of the Civil Service of the
Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsaye.
The committee, which was set up to
reduce the size of the public sector, had
in the executive summary of the 110-page
document, recommended the scrapping
of 38 agencies, the merger of 52 and
reversal of 14 to departments in existing
ministries.
The presidency source had explained that
President Goodluck Jonathan took the
decision to shut down NECO and NAPEP,
among other agencies, after
consideration of the White Paper on the
Oronsaye report.
In the case of UTME, the federal
government decided to decentralise the
conduct of entrance examinations to
universities and other tertiary institutions
through the planned reorganisation of
JAMB.
Meanwhile, JAMB said its clarification was
necessary in the light of newspaper
reports that the federal government had
scrapped the board (JAMB), alongside
NECO and other agencies.
JAMB, in a statement issued by its Public
Relations Officer, Mr. Fabian Benjamin,
said arrangements had been concluded
for the 2013 examinations which would
hold in designated centres across the 36
states and the FCT.
“Consequently, candidates are informed
that the board’s 2013 UTME slated for
April 27 will take place as scheduled. And
the dates for the Computer Based Test
(CBT) will also be communicated to
candidates’ soon,” he said.
The statement read further: “The board
wishes to state that as a responsible and
responsive organisation it is not averred
(sic) to innovation, changes and
government policies skewed to improve
the lot of the sector, but reiterates that it
has not changed the date of 2013 UTME.”
However, the House of Representatives
yesterday threw its weight behind the
scrapping and merger of some federal
government agencies considered to have
similar responsibilities and are a drain on
public resources.
It has, nonetheless, faulted the procedure
and advised the government to take
urgent steps to legalise its action by
sending appropriate bills to the National
Assembly to amend or repeal the relevant
laws that established the relevant
agencies.
Chairman, House Committee on Public
Service Matters, Hon. Andrew Uchendu,
gave this view Wednesday while reacting
to the scrapping of NECO and NAPEP, as
well as the cancellation of UTME.
Uchendu said while it was important for
the government to review the
performance and relevance of its agencies
periodically, such action must be done in
accordance with the law.
“It is not enough to simply give approval
to scrap some agencies or merge existing
institutions. The government should
ensure that the relevant Acts that
established these agencies are amended
or else it will be seen as an illegality.
“There are definitely some agencies
whose functions overlap with the
functions of other agencies. These are
duplications that should be addressed
but it should be done within the confines
of the law.
“In the present case, the federal
government has taken action without
consulting the National Assembly. Some
of these agencies were established by
Acts of the parliament and any alteration
to their status should be done through
the National Assembly,” Uchendu said.
On the other recommendations of the
Oronsaye report that have not been
implemented, Uchendu urged the federal
government to endeavour to sustain the
efforts and ensure that all necessary
actions are taken to reform the public
service in the country.
The erstwhile Chairman, House of
Representatives Committee on Education,
Hon. Farouk Lawan, also endorsed the scrapping of NECO, NAPEP and
cancellation of UTME by the government.
Lawan said for several years, Nigerian
students had been subjected to too many
examinations but the country had not achieved much from these examinations
in terms of quality education.
He said the government's action was in order if only it would address the
challenge of restoring quality and
credibility to the education sector.
He said that it was only in Nigeria that candidates seeking admission to tertiary
institutions faced as many as four
examinations, namely the Senior School
Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted
by the West African Examinations Council
(WAEC); another SSCE conducted by the
National Examinations Council (NECO);
UTME; and the Post University
Matriculation Examination (Post-UME) conducted by individual universities.