For Olamijuwon Alao Akala, the Member of Parliament representing Ogbomoso North/Ogbomoso South/Oriire Federal Constituency, the performance of students in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) of the Joint Matriculation and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is It's not reassuring.
According to the report, more than 1.4 million students, or 76 percent of all applicants, failed to score less than 200 points. Most higher education institutions set the admission standard at 200 points. The lawmaker said he felt sorry for this development, adding that everyone, including the government, schools, parents, and society, should be concerned.
He therefore called for a complete overhaul of the country's education system. In a statement signed by Mr. Adebayo Alao-Akala, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and son of the late former Oyo State governor, 2016 was the first time that more than 30% of students scored above average in the JAMB examination. It was revealed that 2018 was the last time. .
In a statement titled “JAMB 2024 performance worries me,” the former council president said: .
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“While such announcements are expected to generate excitement from parents, students, teachers and other stakeholders in the education value chain, the opposite is actually the case.
“According to JAMB, 1.4 million students, or 76% of all applicants, scored below the average on the exercises.
“These figures are a cause for concern for many, as they show that approximately eight in 10 randomly selected students are performing below average.
“The operative word here is average, not great.”Understandably, this development has elicited comments en masse from many Nigerians who feel as anxious as I do. Ta.
“However, it is important to take a few steps back to properly analyze the problem and propose effective solutions.
“The wave of poor performance of Nigerian students in UTME did not start today.
“Since 2018, at least 74 per cent of applicants have scored below the average score of 200 on the exercises, and while the latest figures are alarming, this reflects a disturbing performance pattern that began seven years ago. It shows that it is only the latest point.”
“The last time more than 30 per cent of students scored above average on a practice was in 2016, when 35 per cent of applicants scored above 200 points.
“What this shows is that while it's easy to blame the performance of participants in this year's exercises and blame various issues such as increased access to mobile devices in the demographic, the problem runs deeper than that. and therefore must be addressed from a more comprehensive lens.
“First of all, the massive failures in this year's UTME and all the exercises over the past few years don't just mean a failure for these students. It's also a sign that the education sector in this country is also failing. There is also.
“What this shows is that to solve this crisis and change this reality, it is important to overhaul this country's education sector.
“Firstly, the government must, as a matter of priority, significantly increase the share of allocation to the education sector, particularly at primary and secondary level. must be supported by new policy plans based on realistic performance targets.
“Similarly, the government should carry out a comprehensive review to ensure teachers in schools across the country are qualified to teach students.
“This must be followed by a comprehensive review of teacher remuneration to keep teachers motivated, and a modernization of school equipment to ensure an environment that is conducive for teachers to teach and students to learn.
“Governments need to extend their regulatory powers over education to private schools, ensuring that standards of education meet acceptable benchmarks, that students are treated well, and that environments are designed to motivate them to learn. be.
“Finally, parents need to do their part by making their wards available at home, adjusting internet access, and prioritizing educational content over peripherals.
“Only when all this is in place and all stakeholders play their roles can we effectively curb the pattern of student underachievement and change the educational landscape in this country for the better. “, he advised.
