Over the years, the performance and effectiveness of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have improved significantly in terms of revenue generation and method of conducting qualifying examinations for students seeking admission into tertiary institutions.
Between 2010 and 2016, the board which was set up in 1978, remitted only N50 million to the federal government coffers, but in the last two years (2017 and 2018), under a new management, the board has been able to remit N15.6 billion to the federal purse.
Similarly, before now, JAMB was a nightmare to all young Nigerians who wished to enter the universities and polytechnics through its qualifying examinations. JAMB exams usually began from the long, tortuous and tasking paper work (filling forms) that made almost impossible demands from the candidates.
The examination proper was a whole lot of drudgery. Question papers were served along with answer sheets containing tiny boxes arranged with the first five letters of the alphabets as optional answers to choose from. A candidate’s success or failure in the exams started from here.
The introduction of technology about five years ago, leading to the use of computer-based tests (CBT) in place of the voluminous paper work has changed the narrative for both the candidates and the examining body.
But the challenges remain. From this year’s JAMB exams and the just released results plus the ones taken earlier under the CBT initiative, it could be seen that JAMB may have assumed too much or taken a lot for granted, seeing the initiative as a destination and not a journey.
The University and Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) which JAMB conducts is a nationwide examination for candidates in both urban and rural areas. It does seem that JAMB did not stop to think that candidates in these opposite locations have unequal opportunities, particularly in exposure and access to computer.
A good number of the candidates, particularly those in the rural areas, have no access to computer. This situation is so grave that some of them have their first contact with computer on the examination day. JAMB has to work around this by either sponsoring computer training for prospective JAMB exam candidates or making computer literacy part of the requirements for applying for the examinations.
The transition from paper work to CBT has necessitated the migration from the use of school halls and classrooms to the use of computer centres owned by private operators. Over the years, there have been a lot of issues with these CBT centres, ranging from malfunctioning computers to power failure midway into exams to different degrees of malpractices or irregularities.
Of the 1.7 million candidates that sat for 2019 UTME, JAMB withheld the results of 34,120 candidates, citing various infractions during the examination across the nation. 15,145 other results were also withheld for further clarification.
Infractions leading to withholding the results of 34, 120 candidates in a single examination is unacceptable and cast a pall on the credibility of such an examination. JAMB, therefore, has the statutory and moral duty of protecting and enhancing the credibility of this examination which is the only major route to the nation’s universities where its manpower and future leaders are produced.
The board should use some of the revenues it remits to the government to procure and deploy more technology such as CCTV cameras in the CBT Centres and make same known to the candidates. This has the capacity of curtailing infractions in future. Again, exam cheats captured by the cameras will be barred from taking UTME for, at least, two years to serve as deterrent to intending ones.
It is expected that procuring and deploying more technology at CBT centres and also making computer literacy a requirement for applying for UTME would improve the effectiveness of JAMB and that would, in turn, produce better results in terms of the quality of university products.
