Why JAMB Doesn’t Like People Giving Awards To UTME Candidates With Highest Scores

The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, has disclosed why the board is not comfortable with the award of scholarships to candidates with the highest scores in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Speaking on Friday in Abuja after inspecting the ongoing 2024 UTME exercise, Oloyede stated that using the UTME scores alone for such awards is premature as it would not capture other criteria that should be factored in for such recognitions.

He argued that though some organizations are still giving awards to the best UTME candidates, JAMB has been discouraging this because other factors, such as the quality of O’ Level, post-UTME scores, and, if going to the NDA, physical exercise, will be added to it before it can be said a particular candidate is the best.

He said: “Yes, MTN and other people are giving scholarships to the highest (scorers) but we have always been discouraging them because you scored high in UTME doesn’t mean you are the best because some other factors will come in; the quality of your O’ Level will be added to it, Post-UTME scores will be added into it, if you are going to NDA, your physical exercise will be added to it before we can say this is the best, before we rank you. So why ranking people prematurely?

“You will see somebody saying my son scored 330 and in addition to that he had 7 A1s, is he not qualified? He might be qualified when you are ranking people in your village, when it comes to Nigeria he may be 650 despite the so-called brilliance to you.”

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