Abstract
The quota system and the catchment areas are federal government policies formulated to bridge the gap between the educationally developed states and the educationally less developed states. Sequel to the enactment of these policies, government established several universities across the country to create equal opportunity for all candidates. In spite of the astronomical growth of the universities in Nigeria, both the federal and the state governments have not been able to contend with the surging demand for the university education, hence the adoption of the quota system and catchment area policies. Serious concerns were expressed by relevant stakeholders on their perceived impact of the quota system and the catchment area on admissions into the federal and state universities in North Central Nigeria. This study therefore examined the impact of the quota system and catchment area policies on students’ admissions in North Central Nigeria. A research question and a null hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was 14,347 staff in the federal and state universities in North Central Nigeria. A sample of 1,435 was drawn through stratified proportionate sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaire and interviews. Mean scores and standard deviations were used to answer the research question, whereas t-test statistics were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the results showed, among others, that the impact of the quota system and catchment area policies on students’ admission was to a high extent.
Highlights
Admission in the universities in North Central Nigeria has been so contentious as the surge for university education continues to rise
It can be observed that the staff of the federal universities agreed that Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were to an high extent (HE) on the impact of quota system and catchment area policies on students’ admissions in the universities in North Central States because the mean scores are above the decision point of 2.50
It can be observed that the staff of the state universities agreed that Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were to an HE on the impact of quota system and catchment area policies on students’ admissions in the universities in North Central States because the mean scores are above the
Summary
Admission in the universities in North Central Nigeria has been so contentious as the surge for university education continues to rise. According to Ogbonnaya (2009), students’ admission is the formal acceptance into school or program of study for which certain requirements must be met. It is aimed at selecting the best from the pool of those qualified; prospective students for admissions register and write Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) coordinated by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) after which some universities conduct an internal screening for the final selection and placement. Less developed areas are given 20%, catchment areas have 25%, and 10% to the discretion of the Vice Chancellor of National Universities Commission (NUC; 1999) which is the quota system This implies that 45% of the available spaces are reserved for candidates with very high marks.
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