The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has reported that the choice of education-related courses available at tertiary institutions remains minimal, despite the introduction of additional incentives to enhance the country’s conditions of service for teachers.
According to Nigerian Tribune, despite 111,176 vacancies, just 52,702 individuals applied for education-related courses in the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
According to the data, the majority of people taking the JAMB test selected medical school as their top choice for their field of study.
A total of 452,443 students applied to study medicine in Nigerian universities in 2023, however, there were only 78,578 openings for MBBS admission.
Remember that the previous Minister of Education, Malam Adamu, said that the teaching profession had been neglected, with the resultant repercussions of brain drain and low-quality graduates, while promising several incentives to improve the welfare of teachers in Nigeria.
In October 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari also officially raised the maximum number of teaching years from 35 to 40.
The President approved a variety of incentives to revitalize and reposition the teaching profession, he said, “with this clear understanding of the role of the teacher in the emerging knowledge economy and the need to attract and retain the best brains in our educational institution.”
“Special teacher salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools, including provisions for rural posting allowances, science teachers allowance, and peculiar allowance,” he stated.
He also offered scholarships for the country’s teachers’ kids.
In the meantime, additional information provided by the board regarding the UTME figures showed that 239,018 students applied for social science courses despite there being only 97,744 openings, while 227,453 people applied for science-related courses with a total of 141,397 slots available.
The board reported that despite there being 68,896 openings in universities for engineering degrees, 163,123 people applied in total.
There are currently 38,725 open positions for administration-related courses, but there were 117,792 applicants overall.
JAMB also reported that a total of 85,264 students will compete for 52,221 spots in the arts and humanities.
However, further data analysis revealed that there were not enough applications for degrees in agriculture and education.
