Scrap JAMB now, APGA chieftain begs FG

A chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr Chinedu Ekwalo, has called on the federal government to scrap the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) now, saying the examination body has become more of money-making institution than a social service provider it was originally meant to be.
Ekwalo made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria Tuesday when he stormed the party’s headquarters in Abuja to pick expression of interest and nomination forms.
He said that JAMB had become more of a revenue generating organisation than an academic channel for children to pass through to tertiary institutions.
Scrap JAMB now, APGA chieftain begs FG “I want JAMB to be scrapped and the reason is because Nigerian universities, put together, have a carrying capacity of 600, 000 students and every year we have no fewer than two million candidates who sit for UTME.
“Even if universities should absorb more than their capacities, there are always many who remained without admission, and this happens annually.
“JAMB, for me, is just a waste of time, because when it was established in the 1970s, its primary responsibility was to serve as a vehicle that will move our children from secondary to tertiary institutions.
“Today, the only thing the examination body does is remitting several billions of naira to the government, which asks it to start generating revenue for this nation,’’ Ekwalo said.
The aspirant for Anambra north senatorial seat in the National Assembly in 2019, also called for the review of educational policies of the country to accommodate the peculiarities of the society and make the system better.
He said that innovations introduced by JAMB had not in any way rubbed on the standard of education in the country, adding that the huge fees the admission body for tertiary schools usually demand from candidates had devastating effects on poor Nigerians who wanted to go to higher institutions of learning but lack the means.
“We have to make Nigeria home for our people and one of the ways we can do that is to look into the education system, there is need to overhaul the system.
“This will pave way for a lot of innovations and youths will have the capacity to express their creativity and make the nation better since they are the majority.

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