Post-UME test illegal
By GABRIEL DIKE
Tuesday, December 20, 2005

After the 53rd National Executive Council meeting of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Alhaji Babs Animashaun, its national president responded to questions bothering on issues affecting the education sector. He spoke on the controversial post-JAMB test, saying the screening by the universities looks illegal with JAMB Act still in existence and the ongoing leadership crisis in NAPTAN.

Genesis in NAPTAN crisis
The crisis in NAPTAN is the outcome of the over-ambition of one of its national deputy presidents to capture the post of national president through blackmail, intimidation, distortion of facts, corruptive influence of money, introduction of deceitful “political, religious and tribal” sentiments to hoodwink some gullible members into disobeying the core injunction of Article xvii of the registered Governing Constitution of NATAN.

Before the end of the half-year, we will conduct the election to elect new executive from among the credible members. We will abide by the constitution of NAPTAN, which says only delegates from fully paid up state PTAs can vote and be voted. Out of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the last congress, only six have paid up and the remaining non-financial members who collected millions of PTA money in their states squandered and embezzled it and want to be voted into national office and the congress said no and they wanted to use force and so we postponed the election.

These people in small minority go about since last year parading themselves as national officers, they have only held one meeting in Abuja where they did not even form quorum and had no money to function. NAPTAN has only one certificate which is in this office (national secretariat, Lagos), one registered constitution with five Board of Trustee members registered with the CAC, I am the chairman, Chief Mishael Nwachukwu and Alhaji Laja Taiwo are members.

They went to CAC and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), they were sent packing. But these people continue to collect PTA money and no account is given, so we informed security and congress agreed that all money held by schools, local government, states PTA is held in trust for NAPTAN.

We will ask them to give account of the money collected and if possible report to the appropriate authority or EFCC. We are pleading that they should stop parading themselves as NAPTAN officials. We know they have not been able to find their bearing since then but they are still pretending. They must stop the illegal meeting and deceiving people as if they are NAPTAN.

They have not been able to hold any NEC meeting, they don’t have anything to do with education. So, we are warning them to stop.
As at December 31, 2004, total outstanding annual subscription arrears from state PTAs to national PTA purse was confirmed by NEC meeting to be N17,162,944 while only Kwara State PTA, FCT PTA, Lagos State PA Caretaker Committee, Anambra State PTA, Enugu State PTA and Kano State PTA (out of 36 states and FCT PTAs) are fully paid up as at the 4th triennial congress on 26th to 28th May, 2005.

Naturally, state PTA chairmen, state PTA treasurers and state PTA general secretaries from the debtor state PTAs willingly succumbed to the antics and readily teemed up with the rebellious national deputy president to disintegrate and kill NAPTAN at all cost, but God protected NAPTAN from their mischievous designs.

Threat to our life
The NEC meeting last year confirmed and approved the postponement of the final day business of election of officers at the congress due to imminent danger of bloodbath and violence which the over-ambitious group at the congress threatened to unleash on the national president and NAPTAN leaders if NAPTAN strictly upheld the provisions of its registered governing constitution to disqualify them from voting or being voted for at the congress election as a result of their non-financially up-to-date status as at the congress time.

Towards genuine reconciliation of all disagreements or disputes, the meeting gave the repentant members of the misled group up to the next NEC meeting to retrace their steps into the authentic National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria or face strong sanctions of suspension or expulsion from the membership of our highly respected National Parent Teacher Association.

We agree that any debtor state PTA that fully clears all its outstanding arrears of annual subscriptions, which most of their leaders are confirmed to have previously collected from NAPTAN members of the school PTAs and LG Central PTAs of their respective states, is free to do so in order to qualify to vote and/or be voted for at the election of new National Executive Council officers .

Another chance
At our NEC meeting, they were given another ultimatum and after the 52nd meeting, we wrote them to stop parading themselves as national officers of NAPTAN, but till date we are yet to receive any response. We discovered they have problems after their purported election in a school compound at Abuja. Since then they have not been able to hold any NEC meeting except one which was on July 30 in Abuja with only 11 people in attendance. We have the minutes of that meeting with us.

They tried to bring in tribalism into the whole issue but they have failed. The Ministry of Education has asked them to reconcile with the Animashaun group after CAC rejected them and their move to freeze the account of the association failed. We have given them another chance before the elections slated for next year, if any of them comes back, we shall accept him/her and if they pay their dues, they will be qualified to contest any position. We are not sending them away, I am not contesting, they thought I wanted to re-contest. I have had enough, age, health and achievements wise, I am satisfied. We will have our 54th NEC meeting in February 2006 and if they can come and reconcile with us, then election will hold exactly a year later. We will give them time but if they don’t come by February 2006, you will agree with us that we have given them enough time.

Post-JAMB test
University admission is done in conjunction with the universities, all these were raised at our meeting. When JAMB conducted its examinations, they mark it using computer (scanning), summon a joint consultative meeting on admission in Kaduna involving all the universities and at that level they have not selected the candidates. All that you said regarding the existing JAMB Act and involvement of university lecturers in the entire process of conducting the Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) is correct but you can never access the candidate through the examination paper. Most of the cultists scored high marks, so long as JAMB Act is still in existence, it more or less look like illegal for any other body to want to decide on admission of candidates. But even the JAMB Act allows for consultation with the institutions, I think it is this aspect that the institutions are using to screening the intake of candidates.

We are worried as parents because our children, the brilliant ones study through the night and score just 204, 205 and are denied admission because of those who gained from the leaked question papers to score 320, it affects all parents. While the National Assembly is trying its best to get the best law for education, let us make do with what is available for now. For the 2006/2007 admission session, we will address it when we get there. After the test exercise by the universities, the candidates have been kept waiting without knowing their fate. Parents are equally worried about the delay.

Exclusion of awaiting result candidates
I don’t think it is a policy yet, well the Minister of Education said something like that. If they make that a policy, it will be very unfortunate. I know the government, NUC, NBTE and NCCE in view of the large number of qualified candidates compared to available admission space. The federal, state governments, universities authorities and examination bodies are finding ways and means to reduce the selection of candidates into tertiary institutions but using this criterion of eliminating awaiting results does not mean the candidates are not competent or qualified. There are some JAMBITES who have tried UME four or five times, they are still awaiting results. So, NAPTAN categorically rejects the government policy on awaiting results, since the results will eventually come, is either the candidates do well or they don’t. It is certainly unfair to exclude awaiting results from those seeking admission into the universities.

N500 fee for post-JAMB test
You will agree with us that even the post-JAMB test will be conducted by human beings and how are we sure it can be corruption or manipulation free. NAPTAN recommends N500 as fees for post-JAMB test for candidates seeking admission. We know it may cost more, but let the universities bear the remaining cost, it is their quest to have good candidates or at worse let JAMB pay part of the cost, but it should not be more than N500.

Fate of candidates after post-JAMB test
Months after the test of candidates for admission into the universities, NAPTAN wants to know the fate of the candidates. Some missed the test through no fault of theirs and this made a total mockery of the exercise. But whichever way the universities want to do it, the candidates must know their fate, they must know who is admitted and those not admitted. The candidates are hanging about the universities without knowing their fate and it is affecting parents.

Payment of high post-JAMB fees
We don’t agree with the Minister of Education pegging the post-JAMB test fee at N1,000. We condemn the universities who charged high fee for the test. Whatever they have collected above the approved amount be refunded. Subsequently, the fee should not be more than N500.