By Anita John 
Some Nigerian parents have called for the cancellation of the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, popularly called Post-UTME, describing it as “constitutionally baseless.”
Ahmad Saudi, a parent resident in Dutse, has said the Post-UTME conducted by Nigeria’s universities also puts students at risk, particularly candidates who have to write the exam outside their state of residence.
Post-UTME is a round of examinations conducted by Nigerian universities for admission seekers after the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had conducted the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a recent interview and survey showed that parents and stakeholders, mainly parents and guardians, say an exam after UTME is a burden on both the parents and students seeking admission into the institution of their choice.
They collectively described Post-UTME as counterproductive and said it puts pressure on students, thereby making the admission process cumbersome, stating that it is inimical to sustainable educational development in Nigeria.
For Salina Moses, a Gombe resident, her daughter stopped applying to the university of her choice which is not within her state because of the cost and the risk involved in travelling long distances to sit for Post-UTME.
She stated that her daughter chose Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) during the 2024 UTME and had to travel to Zaria to write the Post-UTME and, in the end, “she couldn’t secure admission in spite of the money spent on transportation and accommodation.”
Mrs Moses said the experience forced her daughter to apply to Gombe State University against her wish, “even though it wasn’t her first choice.”
Also speaking, a senior lecturer at the Department of Physics, Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe, Dr. Langa Hassan, said Post-UTME exposes candidates to stress and risks in areas outside their places of residence.
He suggested that universities could adopt effective online examination modules to cut costs and reduce stress for applicants, describing the current system as “cumbersome, and many students go through it only to end up without getting admission.”
A Dutse-based teacher, Muhammad Aminu, suggested that universities should harmonise the Post-UTME test to ease the burden on candidates.
According to higher institutions that conduct Post-UTME, they say the after-JAMB test is to assess a candidate’s suitability for admission, including those who scored higher marks in the main UTME.
Efforts by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to scrap the controversial Post-UTME exam in 2016 were not successful, as universities continue to introduce different forms of screening before applicants are given admission.
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