2014 UTME: 400,000 Students Admitted Out Of 1.6 Million Applicants

No fewer than 400,000 candidates out of a total of 1.6 million that sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Nigeria were able to gain admission into various tertiary institution in the country for the 2014/2015 session. This was made known to newsmen by the resource person to the Global Organization on Open Education Resources and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Abel Cain. He made this known during a workshop for staff and management of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Lagos. Cain who was totally flabbergasted for the inability of candidates to gain admission into various tertiary institutions in the country, describe it as a failure. He however, emphasized the need for an Open and distance learning in the country. According to him, for the country to overcome this challenge, open and distance learning system of education must be embraced and empowered. He mentioned that virtually all the leading universities in the world, including Harvard University, Yale University, among others, have adopted MOOCs as a way of opening up access to all categories of students free of charge. He enjoined students to be sedulous, meticulous, assiduous with their studies.