Everybody wants University place

The Joint Admission Matriculation Board, JAMB, has decided that candidates in the 2014 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, UTME, would compulsorily register only one university, one polytechnic, one college of education and one innovative enterprise institute. 

"From our experience, universities refuse to take students who make them a second choice. Last year, vice chancellors of universities, rectors or polytechnics decided that students should only pick one university, one polytechnic, one college of education and one innovative enterprise institute when applying to write the UTME. If they do not follow these instructions, they cannot apply," explained Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, JAMB Registrar. 

It is considered a solution to challenges with admissions to higher institutions and expects the move to solve the admission crisis. 

" We also hope that this will curb the admissions crisis. Often, there are spaces in tertiary institutions other than universities, but every one wants to go to the university," Prof Ojerinde added.

 Admission crisis here is a fact that extortion of candidates causes the empty spaces in schools while other applications in some schools is part of the crisis. Official discrimination against non-university graduates is the biggest factor which starts with the cut off points -180 and above for universities, 160-169 for polytechnics, 150-159 for colleges of education, and innovative enterprise institutes. 

The quality of facilities and teaching staff in polytechnics, colleges of education and innovation and enterprise institutes reflects the discrimination which gives the impression that candidates for institutions other than universities are inferior. The low cut off point rates teachers less intelligent other than other professionals. 

According to UTME, in 2013, 1,670,833 candidates applied to universites, 28,977 candidates to polytechnics and 28,445 to colleges of education for 520,000 places in over 128 federal, state and private universities, 76 federal, state and private polytechnics and 63 colleges of education. Polytechnics and colleges of education candidates were 3.4percent of the application received which was 57,422 candidate in total which wre slightly higher than 52,608 applicants to the university of Ibadan which was the 10th most preferred university. 

Nigeria is already paying dearly for her decisions; fewer candidates are applying to polytechnics and colleges of education. 

How would we fill the gaps this would produce?