The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has clarified that there is no such thing as a uniform national minimum score for admission into tertiary institutions in the country.

JAMB had revealed that it is looking to host a policy meeting with education stakeholders on July 18 ahead of 2024 admissions.

At this meeting, the minimum cut-off marks submitted to it by the respective tertiary institutions are to be deliberated on and approved.

In its weekly bulletin, the board clarified that there is no uniform Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME) cut-off mark for admissions.

It stated that it does not dictate any national minimum threshold for admissions but only holds the institutions to account for their own pre-set standards.

The board said this is to prevent undue adjustments when admissions commence.

“The board conducts the UMTE and hands over the results to institutions for the conduct of admissions. Before the admission exercise commences, a policy meeting is held with all the heads of the institutions in attendance,” JAMB said.

“At this meeting, the admission guidelines, which include recommendations from individual institutions and their preferred minimum admission score, are presented and deliberated upon.

“JAMB is only a member among the over a thousand participants at the meeting.

“Before the meeting, more than 50% of the universities would have submitted in writing their minimum scores of 200 and above to the board for presentation to the meeting for deliberation. The same applies to the other tiers of tertiary institutions.

“This process implies that no institution would be able to admit any candidate with any score below what they had submitted as their minimum score.”

JAMB said the policy meeting does not reduce the minimum prescription emanating from the institutions except in a few situations.

It also addressed misconceptions that minimum cut-off marks are overwhelmingly the criterion by which candidates are admitted.

“UTME score is just one of the two or three scores that are generally cumulated to obtain the eventual aggregate score and ranking of the candidates by most institutions,” the board added.

“Other parameters are Post-UTME/Post-A/L qualifications screening test score, O/L grade score, and in some cases physical test (such as applicable in the Nigerian Defence Academy/Police Academy).

“It is the score from all these segments that are added together to have an eventual ranking table.”

Six teenagers drowned in the Mbang river on Tuesday in Ribang (Mbang) village, Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, while returning from a Junior WAEC exam at about 5:30 p.m.

The victims were identified as Manasseh Monday (16 yrs), Musa John (16 yrs), Pius David (15 yrs), Monday Ayuba (16 yrs), David Danlami (19 yrs), and Yahuza Audu (16 yrs) were students of Government Secondary School Fadan Chawai writing the West African Junior School Examination.

The National Public Relations Officer of Ribang Development Association, Pastor Simon Ishaku, who confirmed the incident to PUNCH Online via a telephone on Wednesday, disclosed that three dead bodies have already been recovered and buried amidst tears.

He explained that, as of now, there are still three missing as locals have not been able to recover them out of the river.

“The school children left their homes full of hope and excitement while their parents went to the farm with the hope of reuniting with them after writing their papers of the day, only to meet their untimely death.

“The Mbang river has been a death trap for our people over the years, noting before the community can access any school or any hospital facility they’ve to travel for about 8 kilometres.

“We’re calling on the Federal Government, Governor Uba Sani, Senator Sunday Katung and our House of Representative members as a matter of urgency, to kindly assist us with school, hospital, access road and bridge in order to bring succour to our community,” Simon appealed.

The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him by our Correspondent as of the time of filing this report.

When contacted, the Zonal Coordinator, of Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency Zone One, Mubarak Muhammad, said he would confirm the incident and get back to our correspondent.

He had yet to do so as of the time of publication.

The management of Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced a 14-day postponement of the application process for student loan for state institutions.

The students loan fund explained in a statement on Tuesday that the action was due to low data submissions.

In the statement by its Head, Media and Public Relations, Nasir Ayitogo, NELFUND said:”

This decision was necessitated by the failure of several state-owned institutions to upload the required student data and fees information to the NELFUND Student Verification System (SVS).”

“To date, only a limited number of state-owned institutions have successfully completed the data submission process. These include 20 state universities out of 48, 12 state colleges out of 54, and 2 state polytechnics out of 49.

“While we acknowledge the efforts of these institutions, the failure to submit data from the remaining state institutions poses significant challenges to ensuring a seamless and accurate verification process for student loan applicants.

“The application window, initially set to open on June 25, 2024, will now commence on July 10, 2024.

“This extension will provide additional time for state institutions to comply with the data submission requirements and ensure their students can benefit from the Federal Government student loan scheme,” it added.

According to NELFUND, “To facilitate an efficient and error-free application process, it is crucial that all state institutions provide complete and accurate information.”

“This includes JAMB numbers, matriculation numbers, admission numbers, full names, level, faculties, departments, duration of program, fees and gender of all eligible students.

“Incomplete or incorrect data submissions will result in application delays and potential disqualification for affected students.

“The fund urges all state institutions to expedite their data submission processes and ensure the accuracy of the information provided.

“Institutions that fail to meet the revised deadline risk disadvantaging their students, who depend on these loans to support their education.

“The fund appreciates cooperation of institutions that have already completed their submissions and encourage others to follow suit promptly,” the statement further said.