ASUU, ASUP, Obaji Others Insist that No Alternative to Post-UTME

ASUU, ASUP, Obaji Others Insist that No Alternative to Post-UTME

Stakeholders in the education sector, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji; Prof. Peter Okebukola and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof, Rahamon Bello, have kicked against the suspension of the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), opting for regulation instead of outright cancellation.

The submission was taken today at a summit organised by the Education Writers' Association of Nigeria (EWAN), a body of reporters from the print, electronic and online platforms, covering the nation's education sector.

With the theme: ‘Integrity of Public Examinations and Admission in Nigeria’, the summit held at the University of Lagos, was chaired by the Secretary of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), Prof. Michael Faborode.

Okebukola, who was the keynote speaker at the programme, traced the foundation of the post-UTME to the degeneracy in the quality of admission seekers to higher institutions in the past, and suggested that the most important thing is to restructure the post-UTME rather than scrap it.

Similarly, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, reiterated the union's stance that it is the primary responsibility of the Senate of each university to admit and graduate students for the institutions, adding that ASUU would continue to fight against the suspension of the post-UTME and that the fees charged by the institutions should be regulated.

In her presentation, Obaji expressed concern that the initiative she introduced then as a response to the loss of integrity in the public examinations, including the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, (UTME) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WAEC) among others, has been rubbished by the institutions while jettisoning the original idea behind the initiative.

Meanwhile, the communiqué issued at the end of the summit, stated that the federal government should rescind the decision on the suspension of post-UTME, restructure the entrance examinations by the institutions and called for the implementation of the 2002 national summit on higher education.
The summit also appealed to the federal government to re-introduce the Higher School Certificate (HSC) programme as parts of efforts to bring back the integrity of public examinations.

They challenged the new Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to consult stakeholders within the system before taking positions on key policies.