According to the JAMB, two-thirds of about two million Nigerian candidates who applied for tertiary education in 2019 have not been admitted through all educational institutions in Nigeria.
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board data shows that this is not because they have not passed but because there is not enough room for them all.
While approximately two million students registered for the Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Exams and Direct Entry, the country’s institutions had a target of 600,000, but ended up accepting 612,557 as of June.
The admission data released by JAMB shows a total of 444,947 students were admitted by the nation’s universities; polytechnics and monotechnics, 96,423; education colleges, 69,810; and innovation enterprise institutions, 1,377;
Meanwhile, a little over 1.7 million of the two million students who applied scored 140 and above, the cutoff.
Meeting the cutoff is not sufficient for admission, as students are required to have at least five O Level credits, which in some cases must include math and English.
JAMB data also tells that about 1.2 million of those who made the cutoff had five O Level credits, including math and English, but half of them were admitted.
Considering the estimate by statistics bureau, NBS that Nigeria ‘s population is about 207 million, about 60 per cent of whom are 24 or younger, this is nowhere enough.
So some Nigerians often opt for a foreign education because of the lack of space in these institutions.
But in a country where the monthly minimum wage is just around $30,000 (around $80) and around four out of ten people earn less than $0.97 a day, such a option is a huge luxury.
But JAMB says the lack of space is not the only contributing factor to the lack of admission into Nigerian institutions.
According to the Examination Board, apart from over-subscription of some programs, incorrect O Level subject combination, low screening (POST UTME) score, UTME-combination deficiency, non-acceptance of the admission offer, duplication of application, absence of Post-UTME screening, mismatch of catchment institutions and no O Level trial are other likely reasons for not offering admission to candidates.
The cycle has nonetheless persisted for years.
Data from NBS and JAMB shows that only 26 per cent of the 10 million applicants seeking entry to Nigerian tertiary institutions gained entry between 2010 and 2015. That, in those years, is about one in four.