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Varsities, polytechnics candidates to get 3yrs JAMB validity period

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8 years ago

October 13, 2016

Varsities, polytechnics candidates to get 3yrs JAMB validity period

Candidates applying to study in universities, polytechnics and colleges of Education in the country, may soon breath a sigh of relief, as the Senate has passed the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Amendment Bill. With the passage of the Bill, JAMB results will now be valid for three years, as against the current one year arrangement.

Jibrin Barau, a Senator from Kano North who heads the Tertiary Education Committee, while explaining the recommendations of the Bill, said the financial hardship experienced yearly by parents and guardians in sponsoring the candidates for JAMB examination, necessitated the amendment of the existing Bill.

Barau noted: “On Wednesday 1st June, 2016, the Senate of Federal the Republic at its sitting, read JAMB Amendment Bill 2016 the second time and referred same to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tetfund. The purpose of the bill is to amend the JAMB Act to increase validity period of JAMB examination from one academic year to three academic years.”

The motion which eventually gave birth to the Bill, was moved on the floor of the Senate in November, 2015. The Senate then directed the leadership to begin the extension of the validity of its results to a period of three years.

The Senate had also ordered the board to immediately stop its policy of re-assigning candidates to schools they never applied to and argued that such policy was contrary to the act establishing the board.

In the motion titled ‘JAMB’s New Admission Policy’, and sponsored by Senator Joshua Lidani from Gombe South, JAMB was urged to consult widely with Parents Teachers Association, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and all other stakeholders in the education sector with a view to coming out with a friendlier holistic, comprehensive and sustainable admissions policy.

It had equally directed its Committee on Education to enquire into circumstances surrounding the JAMB policy, including all allegations of favouritism and generally review the power of JAMB, vis-a-vis administration and submit findings to the Senate.

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