The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, has counselled the University French Teachers Association of Nigeria (UFTAN), on ways to address the poor enrolment of French candidates in the nation
The advice came on the heels of complaints by UFTAN led by its President, Prof. Mufutau Tijani.
According to Prof. Tijani, the Board might have indirectly contributed to the dearth of candidates following its refusal to recognise the Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Française (DELF), which is a French language proficiency diploma.
Another point made by UFTAN was the cancellation of its remedial programme window in the universities as the National Council on Education (NCE) had limited the teaching of French studies to JSS. He also cited the dearth of French teachers and the non-recognition of the International Baccalaureate (IB) for Direct Entry as equally responsible.
The Registrar, while responding to the allegations levelled by UFTAN, said DELF was a proficiency programme run by the French Ministry of Education and is not an academic programme run by universities.
He pointed out that DELF is issued by the French Ministry of Education to non-native speakers of French noting that it was not an academic qualification but is rather a proficiency programme.
He advised the association to go back to the drawing board to activate its hitherto-abandoned University Diploma and other pre-degree programmes for French, which had served as feeders for French programmes.
He advised UFTAN to take advantage of the Nigerian French Village with a view to producing the much-needed feeders for tertiary institutions and the advancement of French studies.
On the International Baccalaureate, the Registrar said JAMB did not stop (IB) because Nigeria was a signatory to the Arusha Convention. He stated that IB was among the A/L qualifications listed in the Board’s JAMBulletin as well as in all advertisements for UTME applications as featured in major newspapers in the country.
He said JAMB had no relationship with remedial studies and does not have the right to cancel it. He was, however, quick to add that remedial students must also take the UTME along with other candidates.
He also attributed the verification of A/L certificates to the series of startling revelations, abuses and discoveries of fraudulent acts associated with them.
Prof. Oloyede, therefore, advised UFTAN to channel its problems appropriately to get desired results saying the problem of dearth of students is not peculiar to French Studies as all language courses are suffering from the same problem. He, howeve
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