The Federal Government on Saturday said of the 1,735,720 students thatregistered for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, only 520,000 willgain admission.

Addressing journalists at the Federal Government College, Suleja, Niger State, after monitoring theexamination, Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, blamed this on the low-carrying capacity of the tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

She said, “The major challenge is a country like Nigeria having 1.7 million sitting for examination. The space we have is 520,000 for federal, states, private universities,polytechnics and colleges of education. “If one million passed, what are we going to do with the rest 500,000? We will not expand the carrying capacity without expanding the facilities. “What are we going to do with the large number of students out there? I feel the pain. Mr. President is very much concerned.If you have students that have passed examination and they cannot have access, you can imagine their thought in the long run.”

Rufai called on private firms andindividuals to invest in tertiary education.

Responding to a question on the high fees charged by private universities, she said the legal department was looking into the ministry’s right to challenge the fees. Although she agreed that private investors had the right to recoup their money, the minister said government would consider legal options to regulate the situation.

The minister also denied knowledge of any White Paper recommending the scrapping ofthe UTME and the National Examination Council.
She said, “It has become a very controversial issue. I have made a statement before the National Assembly that the Federal Government has a white paper on this. I’m not aware that NECO and JAMB will be scrapped. If we are not aware, what are we going to make an analysis out of? Government has not taken decision on that.”
Rufai further blamed improper shading of answer sheets by candidates for non-release of their results. “If they don’t shade their papers correctly, they may not have results,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Joint Admissionsand Matriculation Board has arrested a middle-aged man who was identified as Isaac, foralleged impersonation at one ofthe Dual Based Test centres in Abuja.
The JAMB Registrar/Chief Executive. Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, said the registration number onhis slip and answer sheet did not tally. “The owner of the slip is from Enugu. He came here to impersonate another person. He had been handed over to civil defence who will hand him over to the police,” he said.

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