Gabriel Dike, Olayinka Kehinde and Ezebenard Mmesomachi
Recent directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to abolish admission on catchment areas in federal universities has generated mixed reactions amongst students and parents.
Some students and parents in their reactions to Buhari’s directive told The Education Report that the decision will help to improve the quality of students admitted into the universities.
Others kicked against the directive insisting students from such areas should be accorded special consideration during admission exercise.
President Buhari at the 45th convocation ceremony of the University of Benin announced the abolishment of the policy of preference for catchment areas in the admission of new students in federal universities.
He directed all federal universities to ensure that every local government, all states, and all geopolitical zones are included in their admission of new students.
The president further directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure compliance, starting from the 2020/2021 academic session.
Former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Peter Okebukola in his contribution to a book titled: ‘’Trends in tertiary education in Nigeria’’ in one of the chapters of a UNESCO compendium acknowledged that higher education is restricted to those who are eligible and who can fit into existing places.
Okebukola observed that access is restrained by stringent admission requirements and also by the number of institutions available, noting further that imposition of quota has made the possibility of admission more complex.
He said aside from a high score in the university matriculation examination, candidates go through filters of quota for merit, catchment area, developmental consideration, and discipline.
The Education Report spoke to stakeholders on Buhari’s directive and it was a mixed reactions.
A school teacher with Brain Wave School, Idimu, Lagos, Mrs. Roseline Amadi, backed the president directive to abolish admission on catchment areas. She said admission should be based on merit and offering candidates admission based on quota or catchment area has not helped the institutions and even the country.
“Can you imagine that my daughter was denied admission in 2017 with a score of 256 in UTME but some candidates with low scores such as 235, 230 and even 220 were offered admission based on catchment area for the same course. For months, she couldn’t fathom why with a high score, she was denied admission. In 2018, she didn’t pick the university again and had to settle for a state university,’’ Mrs. Amadi stated.
Mr. Patrick Nwachukwu, an Insurance broker, disagreed with President Buhari on the abolition of admission on catchment areas, stressing that people from such areas or states where universities are located should be given consideration during admission exercise. Such candidates have different cut off marks and are offered admission even with low marks.
Said he: ‘’Candidates from certain areas or states where the institutions are located should be considered, especially during admission exercise. Admission on catchment areas gives the people a sense of belonging and it is usually less than 10 percent of the carrying capacity of a university. Abolishing it will create disadvantage for many candidates’’.
Phillip Abekey, an ND 11 Mass Communication student of YABATECH, who supports the president’s action, said the announcement took too long in coming, but that it is better to be late than never. I hope it’s not just a talk-the-talk policy. Talking is one thing, implementation is another.
“If you look at the demographics of the various Nigerian universities, it reveals a preponderance of over localisation and over indigenisation with only a few universities including those owned by the Federal Government having a semblance of national institutions in terms of the national spread of their staff and students population.
“Universities should be more broad-minded, less parochial and eschew over indigenisation. I believe admission should be solely based on merit. Quality brains are prevented from coming to federal institutions because of this catchment area policy. Students have become lazy and picky. If your score doesn’t meet up, simply opt for the next best thing (polytechnic or college),’’ Abekey explained.
An ND 1 Mass Communication student of YABATECH, David Onabanjo, is not in support of the directive. He said there should be equity in distribution and delegation to every tribe or geopolitical zone of the country, stressing ‘’I don’t support the president on this because every citizen of a state should have privileges they enjoy as a result of their allegiance to the nation.’’
“Admission can’t be solely on merit because other candidates have the right to study. The institution can consider students based on the fact that there is estimated of the number of students to be admitted in every department and those who meet the admission requirements might not be up to the required number. Then, in this case, other students have to be considered for admission to complete the quota of admitted candidates’’.
In her reaction, Latifat Usman, a businesswoman said, ‘’I have been waiting for the government to make this kind of policy for a very long time, to be honest. We are all one, and there should be no distinction among the people. Admitting students based on catchment area has deprived lots of bright and intelligent students.
“Definitely, if you don’t score up to the cutoff mark, you shouldn’t be offered admission. Such candidates should try their luck the following year. I fully support the president,’’ noted the graduate of FUTA Minna.
While Mr. Festus Ukpong, a transport and cargo manager said he is not in support of the president’s directive because it will promote tribalism in the education sector.
“I do not agree that they don’t deserve admission, because it’s their state, other people from other states can’t dominate the admission space. Such candidates should be given the opportunity to prove themselves. If they don’t score up to 250 in UTME, conduct interviews or another test for them to prove that they deserve to be admitted’’.
“In her contribution, Mrs. Odoemenam, formerly a teacher with Solomon Grace Secondary School, Abule Egba, Lagos, agrees with the decision of President Buhari, stressing that the admission exercise is meant to be on merit and that the introduction of catchment area policy is unfair and partial.
“Those on catchment areas should be considered after candidates with good results and on merit have been offered admission, that’s if there’s any space for them. If they don’t get in that year, they should work hard and try again next time,’’ she insisted.
Mr. Ebuka Muorah, a postgraduate student with the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Department of Economics, strongly disagreed with the pronouncement of Mr. President, noting that the catchment area policy has helped less privileged candidates get into higher institutions, thus scrapping it means some candidates from parts of the country would not be able to enter university.
Muorah acknowledged that every candidate has the right to education and should get the best out of it, adding ‘’ no one should be denied admission because of a policy’’.
A 300 level Mass Communication student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Erilem Happiness, described catchment area as a good policy for less developed areas but acknowledged that the process has been abused, stating ‘’ most students now fake their state of origins in order to get admission they didn’t merit. Most of the catchment area students are usually not qualified’’.
“It is painful that some qualified students will be denied admission while those who don’t merit it will be admitted solely because they are from a certain state. The policy is a good one but they have corrupted the process. If they don’t scrap it totally then they should put a check in the process because quite a large percentage of the students admitted based on catchment area aren’t from the state they claim. They should come up with the mechanism of fishing them out. Most of them go as far as getting fake local government identification letters, but then the purpose is just to encourage education in those areas,’’ Erilem observed.
For Bernard Chinecherem, a student of Sociology and Anthropology Department of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, she explained that she wholeheartedly supports President Buhari’s decision to put an end to such policy, arguing that students have been treated unfairly due to this system of admission based on catchment areas.
Creating a scenario, she said a candidate that works hard and got 100 percent in UTME, while someone, who studied less and got 80 percent but such candidate will get admitted because of the catchment area policy, insisting ‘’it has rather increased laziness and nonchalant attitude amongst students. They shouldn’t be admitted, let everyone have an equal opportunity to struggle for admission.’’
In his reaction to the policy shift, the President of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Biodun Ogunyemi asked President Buhari to first ensure the law on catchment area for admission is repealed and the new one enacted.
Prof Ogunyemi insisted there is law guiding admission into federal universities and would expect the Federal Government to do the needful by repealing it before making the pronouncement.