A bill seeking to extend the validity of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results to four years has passed second reading at the house of representatives.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend some sections, including 5(1a) and 5(2) of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Act 2021.
The bill is sponsored by Tolulope Shadipe, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Oyo state.
Currently, the UTME result is valid for one year and applicants seeking to gain admission into the nation’s tertiary institutions are required to pass the examination in line with the cut-off marks set by JAMB.
But if the bill is passed by the national assembly, and it is approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, the UTME results will be valid for four years.
Leading the debate on the bill during plenary on Thursday, Shadipe said the current validity period of UTME results is unrealistic in the present economy, as parents struggle to pay for the JAMB fee for their wards every year.
“When you look at the number of students that applies for university every year and the number that gets in, it is definitely not their fault. So, why should they be penalised? Everywhere in the world, no such exams are valid for one year; scholastic aptitude test (SAT) is valid forever,” she said.
