By Emman Ovuakporie

ABUJA-DISTURBED by alleged discriminatory cut-off marks for admission into unity schools in the country, the House of Representatives has ordered the House committee on Basic Education and Services  to probe the matter and report back to the House for further legislative actions in four weeks.

House of Representatives

This was sequel to the adoption of a motion by Rep Randolph Brown at House’s plenary on the need to investigate the criteria for the varied cut-off marks for the admission of pupils into unity schools by the National Common Entrance Examination Board(NCEEB).

Brown, in his submission, noted that the cut-off marks published recently by NCEEB for admissions into  Unity schools in the country, varied drastically from state to state.  The lawmaker argued that uneven cut-off marks for students, who will study same courses in the future is dangerous for the nation’s educational system, which is already distressed.

He lamented that for instance, “some students, who have to meet a cut-off mark of 65 percent from Abia State by the NCEEB standards, will be expected to end up in the same university,  study the same courses as their contemporaries from Zamfara State that had to meet up the cut-off mark of 14 percent for male and 12 percent for female.”

Brown, while calling on the House to step into the issue,  contended that the discriminatory cut -off marks, if not checked, will further portend grave danger for the educational system and the country at large.