JAMB: How Cut-off Marks Were Fixed - Registrar

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has revealed how the cut off marks were fixed for higher institutions.

It said contrary to insinuations that it fixed the Tuesday's tertiary institutions' minimum admission cut-off marks, it was rather a collective decision of stakeholders in the education sector.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, spoke to reporters yesterday, insisting that stakeholders in the sector unanimously agreed that the minimum cut-off marks for the university degree for the 2017 academic year be put at 120, lower than the previous years, which stood at 180.

He allayed fears that the development might further lower Nigeria's education standard. He stated that besides the board recommending cut-off marks for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education as well as monotechnics, individual institutions could raise their admission benchmark higher but not above 180 and below 120 for universities.

He said, "With this decision, universities are not to go below the minimum 120 cut-off points adopted by the meeting for admissions.

"What JAMB did was a recommendation, we only determined the minimum, whatever the various institutions determine as their admission cut-off mark is their decisions.

"The Senate and academic boards of universities should be allowed to determine their cut-off marks."