Just In: FG scraps common entrance into Unity schools (FGC)

– The ministry of education has scrapped the common entrance exercise for entrance into unity schools

– Adamu Adamu, the minister of education made the announcement on Monday, July 18

– The cancellation is to take effect from the 2017/2018 academic year

Following calls for the overhauling of the Nigerian educational system, the ministry of education has announced the cancellation of the National Common Entrance Examination (NCCE) into unity schools.

Federal government has scrapped the common entrance examination into federal government colleges.

The announcement was made on Monday, July 18 by minister of education, Adamu Adamu.

This came as former minister of education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, yesterday, stressed the urgent need to overhaul the education system in the country to avoid total collapse of the sector.

A statement issued by the federal ministry of education yesterday in Abuja, said the cancellation of the test for NCCE would take effect from the 2017/2018 academic year.

The statement signed by the deputy director, press, Bem Goong, said the minister could not establish the rationale for a second test for NCCE organised by the National Examination Council (NECO).

Mr Adamu was quoted as saying: “The second test is an unnecessary additional financial burden on parents/guardians”.

“The era of multiple examinations attracting prohibitive fees cannot be accommodated by the Buhari administration, especially against the backdrop of government’s determination to increase access to education as a platform for breaking the cycle of poverty,” the statement read.

It said Adamu had directed NECO to strengthen its examination processes with a view to achieving quality and credible examination for admission into unity schools at the first test.

The statement said the minister argued that multiple examinations did not necessarily translate to the admission of quality pupils in secondary schools.

Adamu maintained that the 2016/2017 academic year remained the effective date for the ban on Post-UTME, advising vice-chancellors to adhere strictly to the policy in the overriding public interest.

Meanwhile, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, yesterday, stressed that a change was needed urgently in the educational sector.

Ezekwesili made the statement at the 2016 Nigerian Education Innovation Summit organised by Education Partnership Centre (EPC) in Abuja.

She said education left in the hands of policy makers was problematic. “Systems are very important; when you have system, then you have a higher probability of good outcomes.

“If your systems are not functional, then you would need to overhaul them, because dysfunctional systems, can’t give you any good outcome.

“When we talk about education, you have to look at it as a system that has input, output, outcome and your measurement of the impact that the outcome really stand for.

“When you do that, you will realise that we have been in serious trouble since the time that I was even Minister of Education. The Managing Director of EPC, Dr Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, urged the federal government to scale up educational intervention in Nigeria and ensure every child in Nigeria benefited from it.

“Every stakeholders in the sector must ensure that every child in Nigeria benefits from successfully tested education interventions by focusing on efforts to scale up impact,’” he said.

Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday, July 18, went tough on the Nigerian government over the cancelled Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the ASUU president, Biodun Ogunyemi said the union regrets government’s cancellation of the Post-UTME. Ogunyemi said: “The Academic Staff Union of Universities has noted with deep regret the recent pronouncement by the federal government of Nigeria forbidding Nigerian universities from conducting Post- UTME test.”

“The question is: is the unified tertiary matriculation examination credible enough to warrant the cancellation of Post-UTME?” Ogunyemi asked.

He said the federal government failed to consult with stakeholders in the education sector – vice chancellors, ASUU – before reaching its decision to make the pronouncement.