JAMB HAS ONCE AGAIN REDUCED CUTOFF MARKS FOR THE UNIVERSITY, WHAT DOES IT SAY OF THE CURRENT GENERATION

JAMB HAS ONCE AGAIN REDUCED CUTOFF MARKS FOR THE UNIVERSITY ;WHAT DOES IT SAY

OF THE CURRENT GENERATION

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was established in 1978 by the Nigerian government to conduct entrance examinations into Nigerian tertiary and coordinate admission process into universities, polythenic and college of education.

Yearly, the board set an examination called the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for students at the final stage of their secondary school education. Many students dread writing this examination because failure to meet up with the 'cutoff marks' meant only one thing. Such student will have to resit for the examination the following year even if they aced their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) or the National Examination Council (NECO). Some students had to write UTME more than twice before they could be considered for admission process.

Cutoff mark is the minimum score a student must obtain in the UTME to qualify for admission consideration into tertiary institutions. These marks were announced by JAMB after each year's examination. After the announcement, each candidate is faced with the reality of whether he or she has to resit for the exam or proceed with the admission process.

Before 2017, the standard cut off by JAMB was nothing less than 180. But around 2018, something concerning started to occur. The cutoff marks started to drastically reduce from 180 to 120 which caused widespread debate about the declining educational standards in Nigeria. Many argued that the academic standard were being loweded and it would affect the quality of graduates produced in the country while others argued that this would help reduce the unnecessary pressure on candidates and will help them gain access into the tertiary institution easily. Some even said that the high cutoff was the reason for many young candidate's depression and reduced interest in wanting to further their education.

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board always had their reasons for the cutoff that was announced yearly. Sometimes, it was because of the woeful performance of candidates nationwide in UTME or the increasing pressure for the access to higher education. Other times it was the empty admission quotas in some tertiary institutions or the government policy on inclusiveness.

Many seem to solely blame JAMB for the reduction in the cutoff marks and forget the impacts of other players in the decision. The candidates writing this examination are failing woefully yearly. One might ask, why is student performance dropping each year? The current generation now have a major distraction which has caused a decline in the reading culture, the social media. Although the social media has its positive effects, this generation has allowed it to cause more bad than good. It has cause a Zero or reduced interest in their academics. While some failures are attributed to social media, some are caused by poor educational backgrounds. Some even support the notion that ‘education is scam’.

In 2026, we still have students who attend secondary schools with low standards. Some schools do not finish their curriculums while some have no informed teachers to teach certain topics. Hence students are inadequatly prepared before such important examination. The drastic reduction in UTME cutoff marks is therefore an easy access for low performing students. Candidates with very low marks now have the chance to gain admission. Also, a lot of pressure is taken off students who want to write UTME. Tension and depression is now reduced

But does reducing cutoffs help matter? What effect does it have on the current generation? Academic standards are now being lowered and this causes universities to admit unprepared students. This affects the quality of graduates that are being produced. It is already concerning that lots of graduates produced in universities are plagues with gaps in practical skills and knowledge. And with the chronic brain drain that the county is suffering for, what it is left with are not only mediocre leaders but citizens as well.

Ultimately, when a country provides an easy way out at the expense of its citizens intellectualism, the country stays in jeopardy intellectually, socially, politically, economically and psychologically.