JAMB reacts to alleged admission controversy, promises transparency
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reacted to the allegation that it is frustrating the admission processes of some candidates into some higher institutions, especially the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
In response to a recent report on the controversy, the Head of the Public Affairs and Protocol of JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, said the examination body’s “Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS), a platform on which all admissions are conducted and through which candidates are expected to upload their O/level results, was established to engender transparency and accountability in the admission process.”
The statement added that the CAPS system plays a central role in the admissions process in tertiary education and determines their eligibility, allowing candidates to upload their O’Level results.
“To ensure wider access, candidates are, at the point of registration, allowed to register with ‘Awaiting Result’ but such results being awaited must be uploaded before the commencement of admission by their chosen institution otherwise, they would be deemed unqualified,” Mr Benjamin said.
Candidates’ concerns
JAMB said candidates are required to upload their O’Level results on the CAPS platform and that it is vital to do so within the stipulated time.
“To facilitate this, the CAPS tracking facility indicates the date, time and even seconds that such results were uploaded and, as such, provides incontrovertible evidence in the event of disputes,” the statement said.
JAMB also added that it has engaged with universities to ensure a fair outcome and the CAPS system has recorded the precise date and time of result uploads, providing evidence in case of disputes.
Fairness and equity
JAMB emphasises its commitment to fairness and equity in addressing the procedural issue with the University of Lagos, even as it maintains that the efficiency of the CAPS platform enables students to access their rankings and admission status.
JAMB further said: “To protect the interest of all candidates, the Board assigns a Desk Officer to each institution to monitor their respective admission transactions and call the attention of management to instances where fairness, equity and justice are not seen as being upheld,”
“We also want the public to note that the Board would not abandon its statutory responsibility of ensuring that admission processes are monitored constantly to protect any candidate from being shortchanged.”
JAMB has however called on candidates, “especially high-scoring ones, who are not offered admission and strongly feel they merit such, to take advantage of the Board’s complaints platform and raise requisite tickets as their complaints would be looked into expeditiously and resolved.”
“If their application is deemed unsuccessful, they would be provided with sufficient reason(s), if any, why they were not considered for admission. And where they had been unjustly denied their due rights, provided they have met all ranking requirements, the Board would ensure that they obtain redress,” JAMB said.