Ignatus Ajuru University of Education: sets qualifying tests for first class graduates

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Controversy is trailing the decision of the Senate of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Port Harcourt to subject its 2019/2020 session graduates made a CGPA of 4.5 or First Class degree to qualifying series aptitude test.

Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele, in a statement explained that the move became necessary as the school seeks to produce graduates that it can be proud of.

However, a source told this magazine that the management of the University decided to embark on the initiative because of the surprising high number of  students with CGPA of 4.5 and above about to graduate for the 2019/2020 session.

It was learnt that the management of the school has also called for a review of final year scripts.

In an internal memo seen by this magazine, the University stated that the tests which will be conducted by the Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) of the institution is to verify that that the students truly earned their high-flying scores, and to ascertain their suitability for their final degrees.

Professor Ozo-Mekuri insists that affected students who  ran to the media houses to grant interviews to lampoon the directive are merely wasting their time, because under the law, it is the prerogative of the Senate of the University to certify the degrees it awards.

Our Correspondent reports that last year,the University churned out 78 firs class graduates.

Many of the the students who fell under the first class category are unhappy with the school’s decision.

One of them who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the directive is misplaced because whatever they got is the summation of   performances that the individual student had put in over the years.

“How will the institution access academic performances of an individual by subjecting him or her to less than an hour computer based test as compared with years of cumulative performance?”

Another affected student complained that most the students who fell within the category of may not get the information to to come for the aptitude test. “What about those who traveled out of the Country?”

A female graduate also described the Senate’s decision, “As an attempt to openly ridicule hardworking students who have invested time and resources to finish with flying colours.

“If there are noticeable discrepancy, the  searchlight should be beamed on lecturers who award and compute the marks. They should be in a better position  to explain why the number of potential first-class graduates could be so high for a single academic year”.

A source at the institution told our Correspondent that the feedback mechanism adopted by the institution showed an abysmal performance by the some of the first class products who could not defend their certificates and grades.

“Some of them are easily spotted during their participation in the National Youths Service Corps, where their inadequacies are easily noticeable.

It is simply laughable that the issuance of a first-class degree is tied to a mere one-sitting multiple choice computer-based test as opposed to over 50 courses taught, and learnt.”

“There several instances where some of first graduates were offered automatic full teaching employment by the institution and some turn down such offers because their incompetence would be exposed. Some of them openly confess that they cannot defend their certificates”.