Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The Deputy Chairman Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Akon Eyakenyi has asked the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to review upward the cut-off mark for students seeking admission into the universities.

The senator said to address the falling standard of education in the country, the curriculum and quality of teachers should be improved as well.

She made the suggestion during the monitoring exercise of the 2022 National Personnel Audit, being carried out by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in Abuja, saying the educational sector “needs more funding.”

She said: “We have called out for that in the chambers.When we miss it at this level, the country will have issues to face. With the cut-off marks approved by JAMB, candidates who couldn’t make it into universities and polytechnics will be sent to the colleges of education. 

“This should not be so. Only the best are needed in the teaching profession. We have maintained that education is not to be left to the government alone even though it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the public schools are properly maintained.”

She said parents and wealthy Nigerians should support the government to improve the falling standard of education.

Eyakenyi, who also raised concern on the growing numbers of out-of-school children, said due to insecurity in the federation, children would not go to school.

“Parents do not want to send their children to school again and that has increased the number of out-of-school children,” she added.

She, however, noted that the essence of the audit is to help the planners gather information and proper data about the schools in Nigeria, and the record will help them to know how to advise the government, particularly the national assembly.

“Other than that, this exercise will also help the officers to identify the number of teachers that each school has, if it is commiserating with the number of pupils. The quality of the teachers are also very important, apart that, most importantly, is to ensure that those teachers are registered with TRCN.

“That is why this exercise covers both private and public Schools. We are concentrating on the primary and the junior secondary,” the senators explained.

Speaking, the Chairman of Gaal International School, Abuja, Senator Ikechukwu Godson Abana, promised to ensure that the staff and management carry out the required exercise, saying, the school is among those that complies to rules and regulation laid by government.