Tertiary Education For Less Privilege: Expert Advocates Scraping Of Admission Quota System

Dr Adebayo Oluwatosin, an Educationist, has called on the Federal Government to scrap the admission quota system use to provide admission in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Oluwatosin, who is also the African Regional President of the Scholarship Aid Initiative, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), explained that the quota system have denied a lot of post primary students admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions.

He spoke on Friday in Abeokuta, during the 2023 stakeholders’ forum and presentation of awards organised by Scholarship Aid Initiative.

The forum has as its theme: “The Quota Policy Nigerian Educational System: A Determinant of Undergraduate Career Choice in Public and Private Universities.”

The Africa Regional President of the NGO attributed Nigeria’s admission crisis to the introduction of JAMB as the only government agency to control admission into tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

He said “In Nigeria today, the powerful people have made education difficult for the children of the poor man.

“They have deprived these children an opportunity of gaining admission into higher institution because of unwarranted policies.

“That is why we are agitating for it every year, that this quota system, the idea of JAMB saying university can’t admit more than 5,000 in one particular institution or 50 students in one particular department.

“It is only in Nigeria that we are still using the quota system, it is only in Nigeria that we are still using a unified examination body before admission into the university.

“That is why I said the idea of quota systems should be completely eradicated,” he said.

The Guest Lecturer and Professor of Political Science, Federal University, Oye, Ekiti, Azeez Olaniyan, also agreed that the Federal Government should review the admission quota system.

Olaniyan who is the Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences of the university, submitted that the quota system constituted an injustice to admission seekers.

He said that universities should be allowed to decide its admission policy.

The Director of Programme of the NGO , Oluwakemisola Aderoju said a total of 2,441 have been shortlisted to benefit from the scholarship awarded by the NGO for the year 2023.

She said the beneficiaries cut across all the states of the Federation.