Consequence of abolition of post-UTME disastrous – Don

To prevent the increase in the drop-out rate and in the prevalence of social vices and the resulting psychopathology, a university don has called for the reinstatement of Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Prof Ebenezer Olutope Akinnawo, a professor of Clinical Psychology at Redeemer’s University, Ede, insisted that the abolition of Post UTME by the federal government is retrogressive.

Akinnawo who made the submission while delivering the 3rd in the series of inaugural lectures of the Redeemer university insisted that the predictive validity of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) scores is low and inconsistent across disciplines and levels in the universities. According to him, the implication of relying only on the scores of JAMB is either wrong selection of misplacement of students irrespective of their ability or interest. He contended that the study conducted on the Obafemi Awolowo University and Ondo State University on the subject matter revealed that the ability of JAMB scores to predict academic performance in the first one year of admission varies from the ability to predict performance in the subsequent years adding that the predictive validity becomes low with time. Professor Akinnawo noted that the ability of the JME scores to predict academic performance of students varies from one Faculty to the other. He insisted that each University should be involved in vigorous Post UTME for selection process. In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Z Debo Adeyewa said Redeemer University have traversed the difficult scientific and community terrains to bring unique solutions to societal problems. According to him, the rapid diagnostic tools specifically developed to unravel the fearful Ebola virus and Lassa fever remained unparalleled in the local and global community.