Abuja — Federal Government is determined to reposition the education sector to ensure that it plays the pivotal role of human capital development needed for the attainment of socio-economic and political growth in the country, Minister of State for Education Hajiya Aishatu Jibril Dukku has said.

The minister stated this while declaring open a sensitization symposium organised by JAMB on Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) held in Abuja .

She said Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which will commence April 17, 2010, is as one of the strategies to turn around the education sector.

She said the UTME as outlined in the Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector has been structured to carter for the various issues such as access and equity,among others, so that products of the Nigerian education system can compete favourable with their contemporaries elsewhere.

She said the UMTE was a worked out strategy that will expand access to tertiary education and eliminate some problems encountered by candidates, parents and JAMB in the conduct of Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) and Monotechnics, Polytechnics and College of Education Examinations (MPCEME).

While urging students, parents and the general public to embrace the new admission policy, Hajiya Dukku said the examination is cost effective for both parents and candidates, and would harmonise standard in the tertiary institutions as entry requirement will be the same.

In his speech, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Professor Samson C. Ukpabi, said since tertiary education is reviewed constantly and redefined in line with the challenges of modern times, the emphasis of the board's examinations is equally reviewed from time to time to keep pace with these ever changing development hence the UTME.