By Ngozi Nwankwo
A call has gone out to all Admission Officers of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, particularly in Gombe State, to conduct all their admissions through the Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) and channel all their communication with the Board through the Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS) for efficient service delivery and effective collaboration among stakeholders in the admission value chain in the country.
The Gombe State Coordinator, Mr. Johnson Adebiyi, who made this call at a capacity building workshop themed: “Inspiring Confidence in CAPS and IBASS” organised for all Admission Officers of tertiary institutions in the State at the JAMB State Office premises, disclosed that the workshop was part of the stakeholders’ engagement initiatives of the Board towards ensuring compliance with admission guidelines and other rules of engagement as laid down at the 2024 Annual Policy Meeting on Admissions.
While declaring the event open, Adebiyi gave a historical perspective on admissions procedures into tertiary institutions in Nigeria prior to 1978 noting that there were just six universities, which he referred to as the “first generation universities” then. These are: University of Ibadan; University of Ife; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Ahmadu Bello University; University of Benin; and University of Lagos. He noted that each of these universities was independently conducting self-entrance examination as well admitting candidates of choice based on their individualised set standards.
The Coordinator explained further that this system of admission was characterised with various challenges, waste of resources and multiple admissions, which invariably denied many eligible candidates admission placement. In addition, he stated that this uncoordinated system of admissions and its attendant problems were a point of concern to the then, Committee of Vice Chancellors and the Federal Military Government, which subsequently set up a committee headed by the Late Mr. Michael Saidu Angulu, whose recommendations birthed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board through Act No. 2 of 1978. The Act that was later amended in August, 1988 is now known as Decree 2, Act No. 33 of 1989.
Furthermore, Adebiyi stated that since the establishment of the Board in 1978 till 2016, admission processing into tertiary institutions in Nigeria was conducted manually and was fraught with identified challenges including human errors, manipulations, ambiguity, and inequity, among others.
The State Coordinator noted that since the introduction of the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) in 2017, the admission process had been streamlined to foster transparency, autonomy of tertiary institution, as well as a robust database for national planning and involvement of candidates in the admission process.
Adebiyi stated further that to consolidate on the gains of CAPS, the Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS) came into being in 2019.
He described IBASS as a digitalised platform developed to provide relevant guidance to candidates on courses and institution-related matters.
Adebiyi also stated that IBASS had metamorphosed into a communication channel for the use of all stakeholders towards eliminating bureaucracy in the system as well as to promote a paperless regime.
He reiterated that it was on account of the positive impact of IBASS that the Board had effectively transitioned from paper-based system to a paperless regime on 1st January, 2023.
As such, he said the Board no longer entertained admission-related issues through paper communication emanating from any regulatory agencies or institutions with effect from the stipulated date.
He, however, decried the persistence of some institutions, which continued to forward paper communications to the Board.
The Coordinator reminded the Admission Officers of the decisions taken at the 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions, which are meant to serve as guidelines for the conduct of the 2024 Admissions exercise. In this regard, he reminded the participants that institutions are required to send in their Matriculation List through the IBASS platform while Heads of Tertiary Institutions are to ensure compliance with the guidelines as sanctions would be meted out to violators of policy decisions.
Adebiyi also used the opportunity afforded by the workshop to inform the Admission Officers about the one-month notice effective from 1st August, 2024 given to tertiary institutions in the country for the Stoppage of Condonement of Illegal Admission and Disclosure of Candidates Admitted Outside CAPS from 2017 to date.
He advised the participants to take advantage of this window to disclose, for the final time, all candidates admitted illegally within their systems as the Board would henceforth no longer tolerate any undisclosed admission by any institution.
In his reaction, the Admission Officer, JIBWIS College of Education, Gombe, Mr. Adamu Ibrahim Bomala, on behalf of other participants, expressed gratitude to the State Coordinator for organising the workshop and promised to ensure strict compliance with all admission guidelines emanating from the Board.