557,626 Candidates Admitted Into Tertiary Institutions – JAMB

The Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Mr Ishaq Oloyede, says 557,626 candidates from 1.8 million applications have been admitted into tertiary institutions across the country in its 2022 admission scheme.

Mr Oloyede said this at the 2023 policy meeting on admissions into tertiary institutions in Abuja, Saturday.

Mr Oloyede said that the 2022 admission process is still ongoing due to opportunities given to some key players in the sector to conduct admissions.

The registrar, who discredited notions from the public that JAMB gave admissions, said admission depended on the availability of candidates’ five o’level requirements as UTME was only meant for admission ranking.

“As at June 19, tertiary institutions have admitted 557,626 candidates but as we speak today, the admission is up to 600,000 as we target about 700,000. This is because admission is still ongoing.

“We hear about cut-off marks by JAMB but the truth is that not the best candidate who scored the highest mark in UTME is the best candidate.

“Admission is based on the five o’level results that a candidate possess because we only make use of UTME for admission ranking. JAMB has not initiated admissions since 2016,” he said.

Speaking on gaps in admission vacancies and why candidates were not admitted, Mr Oloyede said rigidity of programme choice and mismatch of demand and supply were responsible.

He also listed lack of interest for existing vacancies and trail candidates (No o’level results or awaiting results) as responsible for admission gaps in the tertiary institutions.

He therefore, said that the onus lay with institutions to determine the national minimum tolerable UTME score, often called the ‘Cut-off marks’.

The permanent secretary, federal ministry of education, David Adejo, urged the stakeholders to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability in the admission processes, which determined the fate of millions of students.