The Nigerian Baptist Convention has responded to the viral video where the Registrar of the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB, Prof Ishaq Oloyede interrogated a teacher over JAMB fees charged by the Lagos Baptist Girls Academy.
In the video, Prof. Oloyede is seen asking one of the students from the school that came to write JAMB how much the school charges for JAMB. The student said N8000. But the teacher interrogated by Prof. Oloyede said the school charges N4,700.
But in a statement made available to Church Times on May 1 signed by the Chairman of the Church’s Education Management Board, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, the church said, Prof Oloyede did not investigate the reason behind the N8000 fee charged by the school before going on air to put the teacher on trial.
While agreeing that the school collects N8000 from students for the JAMB exams, the church said the money collected was with the consent of the school’s Parents Teachers Association.
The church explained further that the purpose of the extra charges is to offset some services and cost of materials for the students while preparing them for the exams.
Part of the statement reads, “The School, Baptist Girls Academy did not charge #8000,00 for JAMB Registration as alleged by Prof. Oloyede. The breakdown of the charges that amounted to the alleged monetary infraction is as follows: JAMB Registration: N3,500, Novel (recommended and provided by JAMB): N500, CBT Charges: N700, Test Driller Software + installation (CBT Practice Kit): N2000 and Transportation and feeding: N1,300.”
While noting that the student was correct to have said the school collects N8000, the statement noted that the “undeniable fact was that the whole money was not meant for JAMB registration.
“Prof. Oloyede did not allow the teacher to explain the breakdown. Rather, he was publicly muscled and emotionally debased. One is even tempted to ask: Is the teacher the spokesperson of the school? This is not in the interest of the teacher’s psychology and the school’s public image as Prof. Oloyede took delight in disparaging Baptist Girls Academy”
Beyond what Prof Oloyede made the public to believe by singling out one of the Baptist Mission Schools, the church said, “it is in the public domain that other private schools in Nigeria charged fees that ranged between #10,000.00 and #25,000.00 (depending on services that will be provided during the examinations for the student). If the Registrar is in doubt of this, he is at liberty to deploy intelligence in this regard. What then is the fuss about Baptist Girls Academy?”
The church also stated that the school is not owned and run by the government wondering why the JAMB registrar did not approach the right authority before the media trial.
While commending the JAMB Registrar for his yearly quality assurance tour, the church advised him “to show more discernment and restraint so as not to give wrong labels as his actions portrayed in the video clip that went viral.”
