The National President of the Association of Formidable Educators, AFED, Orji Emmanuel, has described the reduction of the Joint Admission Matriculation Examination, JAMB cut-off mark from 180 to 150 as a welcome development capable of expanding access to university admission for thousands of Nigerian students.
Speaking on the new JAMB cut-off policy, Orji said the former benchmark denied many qualified candidates admission opportunities despite their academic potential.
“I think 150 as the cut-off mark is a welcome development. The old 180 benchmark shut out thousands of qualified students every year, not because they lacked potential, but because the system was too rigid,” he stated.
According to him, lowering the JAMB cut-off to 150 would give more young Nigerians the opportunity to pursue higher education instead of abandoning their dreams out of frustration.
Universities must key into new cut-off mark policy
Orji, however, warned that the new JAMB cut-off policy would achieve little if universities continue to impose higher internal admission standards.
“But universities have to follow suit. If the institutions ignore this and keep using 180+ internally, then we haven’t solved anything. The goal should be to widen the door, not just repaint it,” he said.
He noted that the recurring admission crisis in Nigeria reflects deeper structural problems within the education system, insisting that reforms must focus on solving local challenges.
“The number of kids left out every year is a huge reason why many give up on higher education. We’re losing talent to frustration before they even start,” Emmanuel added.
Call for practical education
The AFED president argued that Nigeria should stop copying foreign educational models that do not align with the country’s realities.
“Honestly, our education system needs to be re-engineered to deal with our local challenges, not copied from places with completely different realities,” he stated.
He explained that countries like China and India structured their education systems around their industrial and economic needs, unlike Nigeria, which still relies heavily on inherited colonial frameworks.
“America and England aren’t the models we should be chasing. If we’re looking for examples, China and India make more sense,” he said.
Orji also advocated the introduction of vocational and practical subjects such as farming, fishing, mining, carpentry, and trading into the curriculum from the primary school level.
Curriculum reform imperative
According to him, the current system still reflects colonial-era priorities designed to produce clerical workers rather than skilled professionals and entrepreneurs.
“Our early education system was designed by the British to produce clerks, teachers, and low-level civil servants for the colonial administration. The focus was literacy, arithmetic, and English, not production skills,” he said.
He further blamed societal attitudes toward vocational work for the neglect of practical education in schools.
“There’s a cultural idea that ‘handwork’ equals failure. Farming, blacksmithing, trading are seen as what you do if you fail school, not what school should prepare you for,” Orji noted.
The education advocate also identified inadequate infrastructure, lack of trained teachers, and a centralised curriculum as major obstacles to practical learning.
He proposed a decentralised curriculum that would allow states and local governments to introduce subjects relevant to their natural resources and economic activities.
“What makes sense in Kano isn’t the same as what makes sense in Bayelsa. Mining, fishing, and agriculture are hyper-local,” he explained.
Orji suggested that primary schools should expose pupils to hands-on vocational training, while secondary schools should allow students to specialise based on local industries and opportunities.
“If the goal is to stop producing graduates who can’t find jobs and start producing people who can build the country, then this shift is non-negotiable,” he concluded.
