JAMB Cautions Tertiary Institutions Against Change Of Courses For Candidates

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Monday said the transfer of candidates from one programme to another in any tertiary institution can only be effected with the consent of the candidates concerned.

The JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, made this known in the bulletin he made available in Abuja.

Oloyede stated that the warning was in line with the Board’s policy which disallows tempering the preferences for particular programmes or courses as expressed by candidates unless he/she indicated otherwise.

The bulletin read, “The comments of the Registrar were to clarify the call by some institutions that JAMB allow them to transfer candidates from one programme to another within the institution’s CAPS at no extra charges to the students.

“It was also to clarify the notion that it is difficult to transfer candidates from one programme to another and that not all the candidates transferred on the change of Programme platform would appear on CAPS. Elaborating on the workings of the Central Admissions Processing System, the Registrar said the transfer process is automated on CAPS and can only be effected with the consent or acceptance of the candidate.

“He said this prevents the unconscionable transfer of qualified candidates from a particular course so as to create spaces for unqualified ones. However, with this safeguard, proposed candidates for transfer would not appear on new programmes until the transfer is accepted by the candidates concerned.

“He disclosed further that waiving the need for obtaining the consent or acceptance of candidates concerned would be a violation of the extant rules and regulations of the Board and could also lead to litigation and duplication of admissions.

“Taking the COHEADS through the process, Prof. Oloyede said before a candidate could be moved or transferred to another programme, there would be a Transfer Alert (notification from CAPS) to the candidate to either ACCEPT or REJECT the movement.

“If such a candidate presses YES, the candidate would be moved to the new programme and MUST be admitted. Furthermore, at the point of acceptance, the candidate would be notified to change his/her programme so as to be able to print his/her Letter of Admission.

“However, if the candidate presses NO or is silent (no response), the candidate remains in his/her chosen programme and cannot be moved anywhere. Prof. Oloyede stated that the policy is in line with the Board’s policy which
disallows tempering with the preferences for particular programmes or courses as expressed by candidates unless he/she indicated otherwise.”