JAMB warns tertiary institutions to stop admissions through own portals

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has warned tertiary institutions to stop offering admissions to candidates through their own portals.

The board described the practice as the flagrant abuse of the automated Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS).

In its weekly bulletin which was sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, the spokesperson of the board, Fabian Benjamin, said institutions who offer admission outside CAPS do so “to avoid the equitable process which CAPS enforces”.

The CAPs, according to the board, will ensure that candidates are fairly treated and expand admission opportunities as well as protect the academic calendar.

According to the bulletin, the attention of the board has been drawn to the purported offer of admissions to candidates through some institutions’ portals.

”The Board wishes to disassociate itself from such as it is a flagrant abuse of the automated Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) which is the only credible avenue for admişsion into undergraduate programmes of all têrtiary institutions in the country,” he said

The board in 2017 had announced that it would not condone illegitimate admission exercises.

”The Board states unequivocally that any candidate who accepts an offer of admission outside CAPS does so at his or her own risk,” he said.

The board said any admission into First Degree, National Certificate of Education, National Diploma and National Innovative Diploma “not on the official letter-head paper of the Board or outside CAPS is null, void and would not be condoned by JAMB.”

He said any admissions made outside CAPS would jeopardise the participation of candidates in the compulsory National Youth Service Corps mobilisation exercise.

”Institutions are, again, reminded that admission made outside CAPS would jeopardise the participation of the innocent candidates in, the compulsory National Youth Service Corps mobilisation exercise or any job placement which requires the certification or endorsement of the Board,” he said.

He said it is wrong for Institutions to publish any admission list which has not been approved on CAPS, ”therefore publishing an admission list prior to its processing on CAPS is improper and a source of confusion as many of such admissions was found to be inappropriate and had to be reversed.”

Cited case

Mr Fabian said “a case in hand is a university which has a quota of 50 for LLB Programme but went ahead to offer admission and received acceptance fee from 350 LL.B candidates.”

”If the offer had been processed on CAPS, it would not have allowed the abuse of quota issued by the Council of Legal Education. The reversal of over 300 candidates is now a subject of litigation between the university and the swindled candidates,” he said.

”The most unethical and wicked excuse that many of the candidates would drop out within the first year compounds the immorality of the whole exercise,” he said.

The University of Abuja in January also suspended the ongoing admission of students due to irregularities in the process.

The vice-chancellor, Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, had said the committee did not meet up with JAMB guidelines for uploading all admissions on the CAPS.

CAPS

CAPS is an admission flow chart through which a candidate can accept or reject admission offers.

Candidates can also print admission letters and proceed to the institution for further admission processing.

The Market Place feature in CAPS provides mechanism for the Institutions to source for candidates who may not have earlier chosen the institution for admission consideration.