Refund Money taken from Candidates, Education Minister on Post-UTME

Adamu Adamu, Nigeria’s Minister of Education has directed all tertiary institutions that have conducted Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (post-UTME) to immediately refund money taken from candidates,  according to a report by the Guardian.

In a statement issued by Ben Bem Goong, Deputy Director Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Education, the Minister declared that post-UTME examinations already taken are null and void; threatening that any institution caught still conducting the examination under any guise would be sanctioned.

This is coming weeks after the Federal government scrapped the Post-UTME saying that it has confidence “in what JAMB is doing”.

Those who have already advertised for the conduct of the Post-UTME under any guise should stop the exercise immediately as any university caught conducting Post-UTME will face appropriate sanctions. If any tertiary Institution has already conducted Post-UTME, such an exercise stands annulled and money taken from such candidates must be refunded immediately.

The ban is with immediate effect, and under no circumstance should any institution violate the directive.

Any educational institution after secondary education is regarded as a tertiary institution. Therefore all tertiary institutions, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, Universities or by whatever name it is called after secondary education must be subjected to admission through the JAMB. At the end of probationary admission by JAMB, the candidates can be cleared (screened) for final admission. For any institution with a shortfall in admission, such institution can revert to JAMB for supplementary admission.

Clearing in this case (screening) entails only the verification of certificates of the candidates, JAMB scores, and any other physical examination to ensure that such candidates are not cultists. After this, the candidates are qualified for matriculation. Such screening should be at no cost to the parents or students and should be done upon resumption in order to avoid unnecessary travels in search of admission,” the minister said.

Adamu said that subjecting secondary school leavers seeking admission into tertiary institutions to too many examinations in one year is traumatic, exploitative, and absolutely unnecessary.

He directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) and appropriate departments in the Ministry to communicate the directive to relevant agencies and institutions to ensure strict compliance.