By Ngozi Nwankwo
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB,is set to review the criteria for the National Tertiary Admissions Performance Merit Award (NATAP-M Awards) to include institutions with highest number of candidates with special needs admitted in any given year.
The Registrar, JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, canvassed for the inclusion of this criterium during his presentation at the 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary institutions in Nigeria, held earlier this month.
Oloyede’s suggestion was tacitly endorsed by participants, who comprised Heads of tertiary institutions across the country, as well as other critical stakeholders, adding that doing so would give further impetus to the admission of this category of candidates.
With this endorsement, consideration for institution with highest number of candidates with special needs admitted will now form one of the categories of awards to be given to winners starting from the 2026 NATAP-M Awards.
He said, ” Going forward, institutions will now be judged on six criteria. It would be recalled that the established five criteria are: The institution with the highest number of subscriptions by candidates; The Institution that admits candidates from every State of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and admitted not less than 1,500 candidates in total.”
Other criteria included: The Institution with the Highest Number of Admissions of Foreign Candidates; The most Improved institution in Gender Balance, and; The Institution that is Most Compliant with Guidelines for Admissions and which conducted its admissions through the Central Admission Processing System,CAPS.
The prestigious award was conceived, nurtured, and consolidated by the Prof. Oloyede-led JAMB to recognise and reward tertiary institutions that demonstrate excellence in their admission processes as well as compliance with the Board’s guidelines. The award was also designed to encourage healthy competition among tertiary institutions in the country.
