BY DAYO ADESULU
Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB has warned prospecting admission seekers not to accept any admission offer outside Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).
It disclosed that many universities have devised means of admitting students through the backdoors.
This portends that students should not accept admission offers that are not on JAMB’s candidates’ profile.
JAMB’s authorities in a weekly bulletin forwarded to The Cheer warned candidates not to accept the offer, adding that accepting such an offer would not be recognized by the Board.
The statement read: ”Any candidate who accepts an offer of admission made outside CAPS (i.e. not on JAMB’s candidates’ profile) does so at his/her own risk. There shall be no regularisation of any irregular or condoning of illegal admission.
”We have received complaints from the general public that three public universities have devised a method of “offering admission” to candidates outside the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) on their own designated portals.
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”The device is a ploy to lure innocent and more qualified candidates from their preferred programmes.
”The “offering” of admission to candidates by the institutions outside the CAPS is a deliberate act done with the intent to lure unsuspecting candidates to accept other programmes (courses) aside from their programmes (courses) of choice.
The CAPS system is designed among other things to:
i. prevent institutions from unilaterally changing or proposing a candidate for admission into other programmes (courses) other than his/her chosen one;
ii. disallow an institution to skip a higher ranking candidate to pick a less ranking candidate;
iii. allow an institution to recommend a substitute programme for the consent or rejection by a relatively low-ranking candidate who is not likely to secure a place in his/her initial programme; and
iv. allow a low-ranking candidate on each programme to, on his or her own, opt-out of consideration from the initial programme and be considered for a programme where he/she ranks high enough to be considered.
”In order to circumvent the rights of these candidates which the JAMB CAPS is protecting and eliminate from the list in each particular programme, the highest-ranking candidates, the institutions are using their own portals to unlawfully persuade and pressurise the innocent candidates to either accept another course and then make a change of course on the JAMB portal to the new course they have been “supposedly offered” on their own portal or to psychologically bully the candidates to accept the new course when it is subsequently proposed for their consent on the JAMB CAPS.
”JAMB wishes to state that these tricks which are meant to usurp the rights of the candidates are improper and should be disregarded by the candidates.
”All institutions employing such tricks are putting into jeopardy the future of the illegitimately favoured less qualified candidates as the Board will not condone or regularise such irregular admission.
”Any candidate who accepts an offer of admission made outside CAPS (i.e. not on JAMB’s candidates’ profile) does so at his/her own risk. There shall be no regularisation of any irregular or condoning of illegal admission.
”Appropriate caution has been given to these universities which are to promptly withdraw and desist from such illegitimate action. Any such act will henceforth be visited with appropriate sanctions.
”The Board shall protect the rights of all candidates to be given their due irrespective of their social status.”