IAUE first-class students oppose taking the ‘qualifying’ test to prove they merited the first class

Some graduating students of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education who were recently awarded first class honours have kicked against the decision of the school to subject them to a test to prove they truly merit their grades.

We earlier reported that the institution said all the 2021 graduating students with cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.5 and above would take a “qualifying test” due to concerns that some of the students might not have indeed merited the first class honours.

Some of the affected students, who faulted the school’s decision, spoke during a show on Nigeria Info 92.3 FM in Port Harcourt. The programme was monitored by our correspondent.

A female graduate said, “My department published our names two days ago (Wednesday). If I had travelled out of the state or even out of the country, how would I have returned to take the test?”

Another graduating student asked, “How are we going to defend a result in 30 minutes or so for grades that were accumulated over the years?

“Why don’t they verify those that are in second class who are supposed to come down (sic) to third class?”

Another student asked, “Are we going to study around 80 courses again because we want to take a test. The problem is that they didn’t narrow it down for us.”

One of the students who had taken the test said it was a 45-minute test with questions centred around quantitative reasoning.

“How could one test be used to judge a four-year effort,” she asked.

Another said, “I studied courses from year one, but what I saw in the test was not what I was expecting. My heart is bleeding.”

However, the spokesperson for the university, Ngozi Okiridu, said the qualifying test followed several complaints by the National Youths Service Corps that first class graduates from the institution performed poorly during the compulsory one-year programme.

Source: PUNCH.