The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said it is considering a new date for the launch of the 2020 admissions process.
The board initially informed all institutions to begin admission for candidates for first and second choices on August 21, 2020.
But, in a statement on Sunday, the spokesperson of the board, Fabian Benjamin, said JAMB will be meeting all heads of tertiary institutions on August 10 to discuss the possibility of shifting the commencement of admissions to a date that would better accommodate the ‘vagaries of the COVID-19 Pandemic.’
“As a responsive organisation whose mantra is equity and fairness, the Board desires that every aspiring candidate who had taken its UTME be given equal opportunity to compete with his/her peers for the available openings. This is the reason for its call for another meeting with all the institutions with a view to amending the earlier and mutually-agreed date for the conduct of Post-UTME screening and other processes,” he said .
According to Mr Benjamin, as intellectuals, it is incumbent on the board and the various tertiary institutions to always provide practical solutions to perceived challenges for the smooth running of the sector without being prompted by the government.
“Such solutions, when arrived at, would then be forwarded to the relevant ministries or agencies for further inputs and necessary approvals. It is in view of this that the Board is working to pre-empt any unpalatable situation that may arise if institutions conduct their admissions without accommodating the vast number of candidates that are about to take their O’level examinations,” he said
He said the board will be looking at the possibility of ensuring that institutions either delay or prolong their screening exercises to accommodate candidates who will be taking the 2020 O’level Examinations to be conducted by WAEC, NECO, NABTEB and other entrance examination into tertiary institutions.
“The public will recall that owing to the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 Pandemic, candidates who had sat the Board’s UTME under the Awaiting Results stipulation, were unable to take the Senior School Certificate Examinations conducted by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) etc., as scheduled,” he said .