The Feeral Capital Territory Secretary for Education, Alhaji Hussaini Halilu Pai, has called on JAMB to include the FCT as the major area of catchments on admission into the University of Abuja. He stated this when the Management Committee of the Education Secretariat paid a courtesy visit to the JAMB office in Bwari. He said that even though about six universities were catchment areas for the 36 states of the federation, the FCT was not listed in any of them.

The situation was further compounded by the fact that the FCT is not listed as an educationally disadvantaged state. This, Pai said, has made university admission difficult for the people of the FCT. To buttress how seriously the FCT takes the situation, he said that several presentations have been made to the JCCE and the National Council on Education.

Pai commended JAMB for its efforts in standardising its on-line registration and admission process which ensured the release of this year’s result just 10 days after the exams. This he noted was unprecedented. He, however, requested that JAMB should develop better ways of facilitating the on-line registration process which in the past, he added, had seen cyber cafe owners perpetrating fraud and not registering all students who paid to be registered on-line for the examinations.

He also lamented the low level of enrolment of candidates into polytechnics and colleges of education. He, therefore, urged JAMB to embark on an enlightenment campaign and complement the current efforts of the Education Secretariat in creating awareness on the benefits of enrolling in polytechnics and colleges of education. While soliciting the support of the examination body in the maintenance of school facilities used for examinations, he informed the Registrar on the plans of the FCT administration to establish a University of Technology at Abaji. He expressed the hope that the establishment of this unversity would further enhance the cordial working relationship that already existed between JAMB and the Education Secretariat.

In his response, the Registrar of JAMB, prof. Dibu Ojerinde, acknowledged the efforts of the FCT administration for giving priority to education and commended its interest in ensuring that residents enjoyed good quality education services.

On the issue of fraudulent cyber cafe owners, Prof. Ojerinde urged the FCT administration to set up a machinery to recognise and register cyber cafes that could be trusted to properly register intending candidates. He commended the plans to establish the University of Technology in Abaji, and stressed that JAMB would live up to its responsibilities in the development of education in the FCT.