When JAMB was first introduced, I was one of those who praised the move. The understanding most of us were given then was that University admission qualifications were going to be regulated in an appropriate manner, and that candidates would no longer need to travel across the length and breadth of this country in pursuit of admission since they could simply sit for JAMB exams wherever they preferred and secure admission in a distant university of their choice. We soon discovered that these were not to be. We then gradually descended to what I no longer understand. But one thing is clear: every year JAMB and candidates(and by extension their parents) battle a multitude of problems bigger than the one they battled in the preceding year. My question is: what is the usefulness of this constriction called JAMB in the path of progress of young men and women?
I do know that not all countries of the world have similar institutions. I was told a few years ago that a country like Ghana did not have such an institution. In their case, I learnt, you simply walk up to the university of your choice with your certificates, indicate a course of your choice, the schedule officer checks for vacancy for the indicated course of study, and if you are qualified, an admission letter is issued to you on the spot! Although, I did not verify what I was told in the case of Ghana, I certainly know that this is the case in many other countries. What then are those countries losing that we are gaining by running such an institution? If the conception was good, but as usual, due to abundant of reasons in this unique country, we are unable to run it in such a way as to realize most of the expected benefits, why don’t we remove the obstruction? Or is it just providing job for the boys?
