The University of Jos has extended the screening of 25,000 applicants for admission into the 2016/2017 academic session to Friday, Mr Abdullahi Abdullahi, Principal Assistant Registrar (Information and Publications), has said.
Abdullahi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Tuesday.
He said that the screening which began on Monday, Sept. 5, was initially scheduled to be completed on Wednesday.
“It has been xtended by two days in view of the two-day public holiday to mark the Sallah festivity. The screening will now end on September 16, instead of September 14.”
Abdullahi said that the applicants being screened were those sent to the institution by JAMB as qualified to compete for the close to 7,000 undergraduate slots.
He said that the Faculty of Medicine had the highest number of qualified applicants with 10,000 competing for the spaces.
He said that the university would strictly adhere to JAMB’s admission guidelines that emphasised merit.
Abdullahi, however, assured applicants of fair play in regard to educationally disadvantaged and catchment areas.
“The guidelines are very clear and exact; it is difficult to deviate because we have to defend every single admission offer before JAMB.”
He said that the screening process had been very smooth “in spite of teething problems here and there”.
“The challenges were very massive at the beginning because most applicants preferred to process everything in the campus, leading to massive congestion in the network with many logging in at the same time.
“To cope with the pressure, many officers have been moved from their traditional functions to assist and speed up the admission screening processes.
“It is the first time we are using the current criteria for admission, so the teething problems were just normal at the onset, but everybody is now conversant with the process,” he explained.
He added that an ad hoc committee had also been set up to handle the admission to ease the pressure on the various departments.
He gave an assurance that everyone would be screened even if he or she paid the required fees on the very last day.