Senate committee proposes amendment of JAMB act to limit candidate’s age
The Senate Committee on Basic Education has said it considering amending the law establishing the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in order to limit candidate’s age writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, to 18 years and above.
The Vice-Chairman of the committee, Senator Akon Eyakenyi gave the indication during the committee’s oversight visit to JAMB.
According to her, the committee had identified two major areas to be addressed in the proposed amendment for the exam body to function better.
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Eyakenyi said “Our own work is that of making laws, to legislate; we have identified two major areas that we need to go into the process of amending the act establishing JAMB. That’s the area of support we will give.
“Other than that, we also intend to pass on what we have seen today to the appropriate MDAs, the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure the support that JAMB needs is given to them.”
She noted that age has a lot to do with learning ability, particularly in higher institutions.
Eyakenyi stressed that education is very important in the development of the country and the sector deserves to be given much attention.
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The Senator described the JAMB as a bridge between the secondary and the university, stressing that the agency was a necessary vehicle for the delivery of quality and standard education in Nigeria.
“If the products from the secondary schools are not properly catered for to be assessed before turning them into the university definitely you will have a problem,” she said.
Eyakenyi also commended the board for the smooth conduct of the 2021 UTME, stating that the exercise was free from malpractice as each candidate had different questions to answer while describing the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, as a round peg in a round hole, who knows his job.