By Temi Ohakwe, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has awarded the sum of N375 million to five best performing Tertiary institutions in the country.
The Minister of Education, Mr Adamu Adamu disclosed this in his address at JAMB’s Second Edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance Merit Award for 2019, in Abuja.
Adamu while congratulating the winners, applauded the efforts of the board towards ensuring excellence in the country’s tertiary institutions.
He said that the Federal Government would continue to play the critical role in teaching, learning and research.
Adamu added that the awards was one of government’s reward system and intervention to institutions.
“In 2019, JAMB at the first edition of the programme, supported the Tertiary institutions with the sum of N125 million and this year, the board is supporting the sector with the sum of N375 million, this is no doubt an excellent gesture, worthy of emulation”
“I am aware that the board’s support for the education sector cuts across the Basic, Senior School and Tertiary Education through its Corporate Social Responsibility Agenda”
“The contributions to the education system should not be only limited or seem from the budgetary allocation of government to the sector”
“This does not negate the reality that Education is not receiving equitable share of the National budget.”
He urged the National Bureau of Statistics, Federal Ministry of National Planning and the Resources Centre in the education sector to make concerted efforts to always elicit information from the Heads of institutions.
This he explained, would help document all forms of interventions such as the JAMB’s Performance Merit Award in order to fully appreciate the enormity of the resources committed to the sector.
The Minister, while congratulating the winners, also challenged the runner’s up and other institutions to rise to the occasion at the next edition to give the present winners a healthy fight.
Five Universities who emerged winners in the board’s five categories for the awards would take home N75 million each.
In his remark, the Registrar of the board, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said that University of Ilorin won the Most Subscribed Institution by candidates category, while Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) won the Most National Institution in Admission of Candidates.
“Federal University, Wukari won the Most Improved institution in Gender Balance while University of Ilorin, again, won the Institution with Highest Number of Admitted International Students.
“In the last category, Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbese also won the Most compliant Institution in keeping to guidelines of admissions.”
Oloyede said that the Institutions were expected to use the money, judiciously to construct campus roads for their various Institutions.
