In the last couple of years, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which conducts the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for admission into higher institutions of learning has decided to transit from a paper based test to a computer based test (CBT). This new initiative involves the use of computer by the candidates, including those who are computer literate and those who are not. Expectedly, the CBT model is also being applied in the on-going JAMB examination which started on February 27 and is expected to end 14 days later, precisely on Saturday, March 12.
JAMB says the 1.85 million candidates for this year’s UTME is a significant improvement on the 1.47 million candidates who applied for the same examination in 2015, showing an increase of 113, 673 applicants against last year’s figure.
We salute the board for its ability to have sustained this yearly exercise that has seen phenomenal increase in the number of candidates applying for admission into the limited spaces in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions.
Much as welcome the new approach JAMB has introduced to the conduct of this examination, we are also worried by the seeming unpreparedness and faulty logistics which have, in many instances, frustrated the chances of many candidates using this to move on in their academic ladder.
The board’s Registrar, Dibu Ojerinde, was reported as saying recently that “JAMB has grown to be a vitally indispensable gateway to tertiary institutions in Nigeria with a great measure of performance and integrity emulated globally”. We take this with a pinch of salt, especially with the CBT initiative.
We agree with the Registrar that the old system of conducting the examination had enormous challenges as question papers were printed abroad, flown into Nigeria and transported in trailers escorted by security agents to the Board’s offices while the distribution of the materials to the various examination towns was also done largely by air, road and so on. The exam materials were usually stacked up in large cartons and distributed to states from where they were then conveyed in vehicles to the custodians. However, we disagree with the assertion that the CBT has erased all these hurdles and has ensured that the system is now seamless.
It is pertinent to recall that JAMB launched CBT in a bid to improve efficiency, build trust and credibility through the deployment of technology, but what candidates have seen so far in this year’s exercise raises serious concerns. In many of the centres used for this year’s exam, the problem of power infrastructure which has held this country down in more ways than one has been a great undoing for many of the candidates. In these centres, the story of system failure arising from internet collapse or server not found was common and these delayed the commencement of exams for hours, leading to conclusion late into the night.
Again, there are just a little above 500 centres nationwide for 1.85 candidates which is why some of the candidates have to cover long distances to get to these centres, about 20 to 40 kilometres away from their schools or residences which, arguably, affects their psychological readiness for the exam.
From all indications, it is clear that this method needed adequate preparation before it was launched, but unlike the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, we are not calling for a combination of the Paper-Based Test and the CBT, or outright stoppage of the new method. What we want, instead, is a thorough preparation for subsequent exercises where there will be adequate centres with all infrastructure, especially power, performing optimally. The federal government’s mandate to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to set up, at least, four CBT centres every year should be taken seriously now. But even that is grossly inadequate. We demand a comprehensive solution to the problem thought out and implemented before the exams are due again next year.
