An educationist and African Regional President of the Scholarship Aid Initiative, Dr Adebayo Oluwatosin, has asked the Federal Government to scrap the admission quota system as well as the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
Oluwatosin submitted that the government’s policies have completely failed the citizens most especially admission seekers.
He spoke on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the 2023 stakeholders’ forum and presentation of awards organised by Scholarship Aid Initiative.
The forum has as its theme: “The Quota Policy Nigerian Educational System: A Determinant of Undergraduate Career Choice in Public and Private Universities.”
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The Africa Regional President of the NGO attributed Nigeria’s admission crisis to the introduction of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) “as the only government agency to control admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”
He said “In Nigeria today, the powerful people have made education difficult for the children of the poor man.
“They have deprived these children an opportunity of gaining admission into higher institution because of unwarranted policies.
“That is why we are agitating for it every year, that this quota system, the idea of JAMB saying university can’t admit more than 5,000 in one particular institution or 50 students in one particular department.
“It is only in Nigeria that we are still using the quota system, it only in Nigeria that we are still using a unified examination body before admission into the university. Our leaders have traveled all over the world, if the quota system is what they are using there, will their children be opportune to gain admission into Harvard University, Oxford University? No.
“That is why I said the of idea quota systems, the idea of UTME should be completely eradicated.”
The guest lecturer and Professor of Political Science, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Azeez Olaniyan, also agreed that the Federal Government should review the quota system.
Olaniyan who is the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences of the university, submitted that the quota system constitutes an injustice to admission seekers.
He said universities should be allowed to decide its admission policy.
The Director of Programme of the Scholarship Aid Initiative, Ms Oluwakemisola Aderoju, said a total of 2,441 have been shortlisted to benefit from the scholarship awarded by the NGO for the year 2023.
She said the beneficiaries cut across all the states of the Federation.
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