By Rosemary Ogbonnaya
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB, has inspected prospective centres to be used for the Board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME in Berlin, Germany, beginning from the 2022 UTME.
The centre inspection, which was undertaken by a three-man technical team from the Board’s National Headquarters, was to further the stated goal of the Federal Ministry of Education that the nation’s tertiary institutions should be exposed to candidates globally.
The team, which was led by the Director, Information Technology Services, Mr Fabian Okoro, had paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Embassy in Berlin where they met with the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency, Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tugar, the Deputy Head of Mission, Her Excellency, Amb. (Mrs.) Ingekim Regina Ocheni and other functionaries of the Mission.
Okoro, after briefing Amb. Tugar on the purpose of the visit solicited the support of the Embassy in sensitising Nigerians in Germany to the highly improved quality of Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Ambassador Tugar, while responding, commended the Board for the many good news emanating from it, particularly the series of innovations that have transformed the large-scale assessment landscape in the country for good.
According to the Ambassador, the establishment of a UTME centre in Germany, where he said over 7million Nigerians reside, would facilitate the return of many of their wards home for further studies.
He said, “The two-tier system of progression into tertiary institutions in Germany has made it difficult for many Nigerians to attain their educational goals.” Continuing, he said, “Since Germany is the centre of Europe, having a centre in Berlin would place our education system within the reach of a global audience.”
Aligning himself with the internationalisation drive of the Board, he said Nigerians are creative and imaginative as Nigeria has produced global leaders in many fields of human endeavours.
The Deputy Head of Mission Ambassador (Mrs.) Ocheni, who guided the team on the inspection of the prospective centres also commended the Board’s courage in taking the difficult but right step of the centre assessment and urged the Management of the Board to ensure that its noble undertakings are not abandoned by successive administrations.
Other members of the team were: Mrs Susan Theophilous, Assistant Director, Registrar’s Office and Dr Fabian Benjamin, Head, Public Affair and Protocols.
