Selection anomaly

By CHARLES MOI
SOME grade 12 students with good marks missed out on places in tertiary institutions this year because of data entry discrepancies, an official says.
Father Jan Czuba, the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology secretary, admitted that a combination of data discrepancies on the online selection process of school leavers had resulted in some grade 12 students missing out on places in tertiary institutions.
He told The National measures were being taken to avoid a repeat.
Czuba, pictured, in a letter to students who missed out on selection, said some information received from the Measurement Services division of the Education Department were incorrect.
The affected students now have their application moved to a national admissions pool.
He said “a significant number of higher education institutions changed their programme requirements and quota throughout the application process”.
“This resulted in a few students with good GPA (Grade Point Average) not being selected,” he said.
“Although the grace period would have allowed you (student) to make changes to your choices, please note that the GPA is not the single requirement considered as a factor in programme selection ranking.
“Selectors at institutions of higher learning used complex ranking order in this round of selections.”
Czuba advised students in the National Admissions Pool to check their national online application system account for application updates.
His response follows protests from parents demanding answers from the department on why their children with very high marks missed out on places in tertiary institutions.
Francis Serum, from Minj in Jiwaka, said his daughter Naddiya was a victim of the online selection process.
Naddiya completed grade 12 last year at Minj Secondary in Jiwaka and received two conflicting emails from the department concerning her selection.
He said the first email confirmed that Naddiya had been selected to study biology at the University of Goroka.
They waited in vain for an acceptance letter from the university of Goroka.
The second email from the department advised Naddiya that her application was unsuccessful and was included in the national admission pool.
Francis said that while waiting for the offer letter from the university of Gorokoa, they missed the one-week period in which she could have a second institution to pick.
“I do not know how this could happen,” he said.
Higher Education Minister Pila Niningi stated last year that the introduction of the online selection system had resulted in all grade 12 applicants with a GPA of at least 2.3 receiving an offer from a higher and technical education institution.