TheCable

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced 180 as the admission cut-off mark for degree programmes in the country.

The board also pegged 150 as the minimum score for national certificate in education, national diploma and national innovation diplomas.

Dibu Ojerinde, registrar of JAMB, announced this at the end of the 2015 combined policy meeting, which held in JAMB’s Abuja office on Tuesday.

“We have been able to decide the cut-off mark; it’s going to be 180 for universities and 150 for non-degree institutions,” he said.

“However, we welcome the six new universities, which four are for universities of education, one for petroleum and one for health sciences.

“We hope that our vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts will stick to these decisions and implement accordingly so that by October 31, admission for 2015/2016 will be over.

“The meeting also agreed that all stakeholders should stick to the 60:40 science/arts ratio and 70:30 technology/non-technology ratios for admission.”

Ojerinde urged the institutions to adhere strictly to the admission ratio in order to promote technological development of the nation.

He also said “one of the striking features” of the 2015 compute based test (CBT) was the provisions made for physically challenged candidates and prison inmates.

He said for the first time in the region, braille note were introduced for the visually impaired, adding that many of them did well in the CBT.

“Many of them scored above 200 in law, arts, social sciences, administration, among others. When we send them to you for admission, please admit them,” he said.

“For albinos, we increased the font of the letters so that they could see and read; they were also given extra hours.

“:Prison inmates also did the CBT in their yards; 208 inmates did the exam in Nigeria.”

Earlier in his speech, MacJohn Nwaobiala, permanent secretary, ministry of education, said JAMB CBT had been tested and trusted.

He commended the board for being innovative and bringing exam models that were of international standards.

Nwaobiala said tertiary education was very important as it produced the manpower needed for economic development.

He promised that the federal government will pursue a policy of non-discrimination between polytechnics and universities.

On his part, Julius Okojie, executive secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), warned universities against admitting students beyond their capacity.

He said NUC would ensure that the new universities had all the required facilities before taking off, adding that some of them might not take off in 2015.

The meeting also had in attendance participants from National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).

Also in attendance were representatives of higher institutions, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the public complaints commission.

About 1.4 million candidates sat for JAMB CBT which held between March 9 and March 21.