The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been asked by the House of Representatives (reps) to extend the validity of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results to three years.
The reps also requested that the UTME be held at least twice a year.
The existing system limits the validity of JAMB exam results to one year.
Candidates who do not receive admission that year are expected to retake the exam the following year in order to continue their pursuit of postsecondary education.
However, while introducing the resolution on Wednesday, Akin Rotimi, the lawmaker representing Ekiti North 1 federal constituency, requested that JAMB “rethink” the arrangement in order to match worldwide standards.
According to Rotimi, the decision “would bring immediate relief to students and their parents/sponsors, who bear the burden of paying for the exam every year, as well as give candidates multiple windows to sit for the exam in a year.”
He contended that nothing in the existing act creating JAMB prevents it from promptly carrying out the house’s resolutions on the topic.
The lawmaker further stated that the house passed a motion to form an ad hoc committee to discuss the house’s resolution with JAMB and other relevant agencies.
“In addition to passing my motion, the honourable house also passed a motion for an additional prayer moved by Hon. Olumide Osoba, establishing an ad-hoc committee of the house to liaise with the authorities of JAMB and the ministry of education to ensure the resolution is expeditiously carried out,” he said.
