The year is 2005, I just got my JAMB UTME result and I am 4 points away from the cutoff. I branch off to a family friend’s house from the cyber café to avoid answering unavoidable questions. I am playing with the kids with uncertain dread in my heart. How do I tell them at home? How do I face my friends? What happens next? I tell this story to give you a background to what I decide to talk about today.
I had the unfortunate privilege of checking up scores of high scoring students who do not meet up with the cut off criteria of the various departments. It is saddening to see a student who scores 247 and a 75 in the post UTME exam set by the university not get into the university. The trouble is they do not even have the option of choosing another department with a lesser score requirement. They have to go do another JAMB plus UTME all over again.
I will give you the summary, the education system in Nigeria is failing and when it comes to entering higher institutions of learning the entry is quite skewed towards the financial stability of the ivory tower instead of scholarly achievement. Back to my story, I had to face my family, the shame and all, but my mother took the tough decision of registering me for the predegree programme then. It was not what I wanted particularly understanding the aspect of the financing, my family also being in a relatively rough place at the point. But I was grateful. I was grateful I didn’t have answer questions about what I was doing at home. I was grateful I didn’t have to join the bandwagon of folks who had to go for extra lessons to pass JAMB. Above all, I was grateful to be in school. It didn’t matter if the school was relatively unknown in the backside of the hinterland of Ondo state. It turned out to be the best decision and I will tell you why!
The university system is crumbling largely in part due to inadequate funding and many institutions have resorted to alternative sources of Internally generated revenue (IGR). One of these is the pre-degree programme, an approximately one-year, geared to prepare the candidates for meeting with the basic requirements for entering school. While for most institutions it helps to bring students from different educational experiences under a blanket environment of study, it is obvious that the major aim is the generation of funds. The IGR generated from many institutions drive a major part of their budgeting and planning. The real skew here is this – having trained the students under their wings, it is expected that they will be more prepared and ready to be absorbed into the university system unlike the newbies from outside.
As a valid point, most of the PD programmes are they are usually called are carried out within the university environment, which helps the students acclimatize properly. The PD student is already used to places landmarks, navigation that makes their first year as real students much easier than others who have just got in. They know where to go, how to keep their stuff safe etc. Hilariously, I once heard of a PD student who got a 400L student pregnant…that is not my point of call. The school by the programme has to dedicate a quota of their admission to the students of the PD programme and this is where the problem starts. For admission there are a number of official criteria that are different from the corrupt and sharp practices of entering school; Merit, Catchment ( This talks about students with their state of origin from around and within the state of the institution), Educationally Less Developed State (ELDS), for students with state of origins from mostly the northern states with a poor educational rating (this itself is funny, because I once met a student who graduated from Queens College, but was granted admission based on ELDS because her state of origin was from the north!).
Now, these are the official entry points, all aside from the graduates from the PD programme. So take for instance 40% of the total admissions are given to PD students (which is a conservative amount), that leave s about 60% for the aforementioned admission criteria. Take 15% each for Catchment and ELDS, that will leave 30% for merit. I am pained to see a student who scores an aggregate of 70 no admitted and another scoring 50 being admitted on ELDS or catchment…but that is Nigeria and it is enshrined in the law.So, let’s focus on the 30%, most universities boast post UTME exam writers above times 5 the number of spaces they are willing to admit. And while it is important to understand that there will always be the crowd, the chances of admission are becoming more slimmer. For one, to be admitted through the predegree programme, you only have to score above the average score. While this might not get you into the course of choice, you will undoubtedly be admitted. This opportunity though available is not straightforward for entrants through the normal JAMB route. In many cases the option of switching id over before they even get a whiff of the results.
My pain really is the time wasted because unknowing parents end up retreating to register their children in lessons instead of reducing the odds by taking up the PD option. While it may not be cheap, it is a sure way, particularly if your ward is sensible. Apart from helping with the emotional trauma of staying at home and having to write JAMB again, only to go through the same routine, you also help them acclimatise with the school environment, developing them into well mature and advantaged individuals for school proper.
I will write some more about this in my next post.