The Nation Newspaper

Tag: JAMB

  • JAMB: There is room for improvement

    JAMB: There is room for improvement

    SIR: It will be largely unfair not to acknowledge and appreciate the innovations of the Professor Dibu Ojerinde-led Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB). A number of improvements are noticeable. First, the distribution of examination materials to students in the examination hall is a good one. This has to a large extent, prevented the hoarding of these materials by some banks or forms-selling centres as well grant fairness to all students through uniform use of same materials, e.g. calculator. As an observer of the examination exercise at a major centre in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, I saw that virtually everyone got the writing materials and calculators since these were needed for simple calculations. In recent years, many candidates have suffered gross disadvantage as some examination centers never allowed any kind of calculators, the simple, non-scientific ones inclusive, while others allowed them.

    Another improvement is the biometric verification of candidates. This has brought a sharp drop in the incidence of impersonation and similar malpractices.

    However, the largest room in the world remains the room for improvement JAMB cannot afford rest on its oars. The examination exercise is still rife with irregularities that push the motion for its scrapping. There is more to be done to prove the integrity of the body. Otherwise, how would one explain the fact that many students were seen scribbling answers in small sheets before the examinations started? Some corrupt officials must have smuggled copies of the question papers for unscrupulous purposes. Even though the questions are in various types, students can still find a way around this system. The scandalous representation of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in national newspapers a couple of weeks ago due to the leakage of its examination questions should have been a tip to the JAMB leadership to guard against the trend but it was not so to be. There is also a lot that needs be done as regards security at examination centres.

    Moreover, there were also gross errors in the printing of some of the question paper types. For example, the English paper type B that was brought to a major centre in Abuja (with thousands of candidates) did not have question number twenty two. Also, question numbers 83-86 were missing. Would students be marked down for questions they did not answer?

    Another issue is the unnecessary delay that precedes the kick-off of the examination. In a centre in Abuja, the examination kicked off at about 11:30am as against the normal starting time of 9am, even though students had started reporting since 6am. If we do not impress it on the younger generation that punctuality is the soul of business, what reason would they have not to end up showing up late to government work places in the future?

    As much as I do not campaign for the discontinuation of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, I also do call for reconstructive strategies to be adopted to trim off the excesses that plague the smooth conduct of the exercise. Granting autonomy to our universities by taking UTME off the table may not be the best for us at this level of development. A regulatory system is highly necessary to maintain some sanity in the education polity.

    • Joshua Oyeniyi

    Abuja

     

  • UTME holds nationwide, records improvement

    UTME holds nationwide, records improvement

    The third edition of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board for universities polytechnics, monotechnics, and colleges of education held nationwide Saturday with noticeable improvement in the conduct of the examination .

    Our reporter who went round some of the centres in Ojo/Agbara area of Lagos, observed that unlike before, there were adequate provision of materials such as calculators, pencils and erasers in all the centres visited. Also, the data capturing machine which used to experience hiccups, performed impressively high this time around.
    For instance, as at 8.30am , the data capturing machine in Career Comprehensive High School, Cassidy, Okoko, one of the JAMB centres with Centre No 036209, had already captured 439 of the 540 candidates allotted by JAMB to each centre.
    One of the officials who pleaded not to be mentioned said less than ten cases of candidates were yet to be captured as the device had problems identifying their thumbprints.
    Said the official: “We have asked them (yet-to-be-captured candidates) and others that may be subsequently discovered to step aside so that we can conclude the entire capturing session first. After, we will check their names against the register to know if the affected candidates are the rightful owners of their slips or not.”
    There was similar scenario at Augusta College, Iyana Ishashi. The supervisor of the centre with Centre No 036206, Mr Femi Keshinro, said the data capturing machine worked impressively well prompting to examination to commence at 9am.
    However, there was a mild drama in one of the three centres (Faculty of Arts with centre No 36102) within the Lagos State University, Ojo. An official of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, one of the paramilitary bodies deployed by JAMB to provide security for the examination, was caught while trying to send some answers to some supposed candidates in the examination halls through two cell phones.
    A microchip with solutions to Mathematics (Type A), was also found on him. The NSCD officer who identified himself as Kazeem Adewale was caught by the men of the LASU security guards. Adewale initially denied, claiming the phones and microchips were given to him by his boss another female office whom she simply identified as Adesanu. But Adesanu denied the claim outright saying she neither gave the phones, nor the microchips to Adewale.
    The suspect was later handed over to the police deployed from Ojo for the exam.
    The other two centres were- Faculty of Law with Centre No  36109 and Faculty of Management Sciences with Centre No 36010.
    The coordinator of the three centres Prof Sena Bakre who spoke to this reporter, urged JAMB authorities to beam their searchlight more on NSCD officials, fingering them as one of the abettors of examination rackets which are often recorded during JAMB.
    A Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) Bakre said she suspected Adewale’s atrocities probably had the backing of his other colleagues especially his superiors at the centres, adding that since he had been arrested, they became suspiciously more nervous.
    “For me, I no longer find this civil defence people dependable again. They are usually the ones that help many of these students get examinations answers either via cell phones or any other means. I think the authority should do something about this. This people have outlived their usefulness,” she said.

  • Nine students going for JAMB die in Aba auto crash

    •Five others killed in Awka

    Nine students on their way to Aba from Port Harcourt for today’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE) yesterday lost their lives in a motor accident.

    Twelve other passengers were killed in a separate accident in Awka,Anambra State, yesterday, after a trailer rammed into three other vehicles.

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), however confirmed five dead and 17 injured in the accident at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University junction.

    The first accident occurred at Obeaku-Ihe in Ugwunagbor Local Government Area of Abia State between a Hiace bus with registration number, Rivers XY 249 PHC and a Mack Truck with registration number XC 109 SLK.

    Seven died on the spot while two died in hospital.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Geoffrey Ogbonna, who confirmed the incident, said the remains of the dead including the driver of the bus and his conductor had been deposited at the mortuary.

    The injured were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

    The PPRO said: “the students were coming from Port Harcourt to Aba in a Hiace bus when their driver rammed into the Mack truck packed by the road side of the express.

    He said that most of the 15 passengers were believed to be on their way to Aba for the UTME, against the background of items recovered from the scene of the accident.

    An eyewitness, who gave his name as Victor Iheakamdu said that the bus driver lost control of his vehicle when he wanted to overtake the vehicle in front of him.

    “When he saw an oncoming vehicle after he had engaged in overtaking the car in front of him, he veered off the express and then rammed into the Mack truck that was packed on the road.”

    The other accident was caused after the brake of the diesel-laden trailer unexpectedly failed, leaving the driver to lose control.

    Time was 4pm .

    The trailer rammed into three L-300 Mitsubishi buses.

    Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), police, army and the Civil Defence Corps (NCSDC) personnel had a hectic time trying to rescue the injured and clear the road for smooth traffic.

    The FRSC Sector Commander, Mr. Hygenius Omeje, confirmed the accident and the casualty figures.

     

  • JAMB/NSCDC to deploy 10,000 men for UTME

    No fewer than 10,000 men and officers of the Nigeria Security and Defence Corps (NSCDC) would participate in the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scheduled for April 27 across the nation.

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which conducts the UTME has also announced May 18 as the date for the Computer Based Tests (CBT) version of the examination.

    A statement by JAMB Relations Officer Fabian Benjamin, noted that the management of the board headed by Prof ‘Dibu Ojerinde met with top management of the NSCDC represented by the Deputy Commandant-General (DCG) Operations, Mr Evans Ewerem on security plans for the examination vis-à-vis the role the agency would play.

    Issues bordering on effective monitoring and securing examination centres on the examination day and general conduct of the examination were discussed during the meeting held in Abuja.

    On his part Ojerinde said it has become a tradition for the Board to meet with the NSCDC prior to the UTME. He praised the agency for its achievements including exposing a fake NYSC orientation camp in Nasarawa and encouraged its men to keep up the good work.

    Also speaking, Ewerem assured the Board of the corps’ cooperation in ensuring the success of the 2013 UTME conduct. He added that all state commandants of the NSCDC would be invited to Abuja for briefing so men that would be deployed to centres are conversant with the new innovations for the examination.

    Ewerem urged JAMB to provide the agency with the names and addresses of the custodians and centres supervisors to enable them strategise on how to dispatch officials to various centres.

     

  • UTME: JAMB trains 166 coordinators

    UTME: JAMB trains 166 coordinators

    As part of its efforts to conduct a hitch-free Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had a brain-storming meeting with over 166 coordinators for Computer Based Test (CBT) and Paper Pencil Test (PPT) scheduled for April 27 across the nation.

    The coordinators are senior and experienced staff drawn from 190 coordinating institutions of tertiary institutions across the country.

    The meeting was designed to keep the coordinators abreast of 2013 UTME features, its expectation and their roles towards ensuring the success of the examination.

    Declaring the training open, the JAMB Registrar Prof ‘Dibu Ojerinde said it would equip the coordinators with skills to reduce shortcomings in the conduct of the examination and familiarise them with the roles of the coordinators, supervisors, centre coordinators, assistant coordinators, invigilators, technical staff and attendants.

    “The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) experience has shown that result blackout, incomplete results and other seemingly problem occur as a result of certain shortcomings often discovered either on the part of the candidate or on the part of other stakeholders right from the stage of registration of candidates to the conduct of the examination. It is against this backdrop that the Board deems it necessary to conduct this training for her examination officials.”

    In his address, the Acting Director, Test Administration Department, Dr Yusuf Lawal commended the Registrar, whom he described as Mr. Innovation, for the various initiatives and achievements recorded since he came on Board as the helmsman.

    “Between 2007 when Prof ‘Dibu Ojerinde was appointed as the Registrar of JAMB and now, we have recorded a number of achievements too numerous to mention but it will not be out of place, because of its direct relevance to our activity of today to recall with some sense of satisfaction that Professor ‘Dibu Ojerinde introduced the UTME in 2010, on the heel of this we are here in 2013 celebrating the introduction of Computer Based Test (CBT).”

    He said the Computer Based Test (CBT) mode will be conducted alongside two other modes, that is, Dual Based Test (DBT) and the traditional Paper and Pencil Test (PPT). In the CBT mode, the deployment of question and responses would be on the computer while in the DBT the question will be deployed on the computer while responses would be on Optical Mark Readable (OMR) answer sheets; and the traditional PPT would be presented on paper and the responses will be on (OMR) answer sheets.

    However, from 2015, he said only the CBT mode would be used for the examination.

    “It would be most appropriate to re-emphasize that the transition period from PPT to CBT is three years lasting till 2015 when it is expected that all candidates for the Board’s Matriculation Examination will sit for the test electronically.”

     

  • 2013 UTME date remains unchanged- JAMB

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), on Wednesday restated its commitment to the conduct of a hitch-free 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The reassurance was contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Board, Mr Fabian Benjamin and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The statement said that the reassurance became necessary in view of reports in some national dailies that the Federal Government may have cancelled UTME examination.

    It said that the board wished to state that as a responsible and responsive organisation, it was not averse to innovation, changes and government policies aimed at improvement in the education sector.

    The statement further reiterated that JAMB had not changed the date of the 2013 UTME for applicants seeking admission into the country’s various institutions of higher learning.

    It said that consequently, the board’s 2013 UTME, slated for April 27, would take place as scheduled.

    The statement further said that the date for the Computer Based Test (CBT) would be communicated to candidates soon.

    It also said that arrangements had been completed for the smooth conduct of the examination, as relevant stakeholders had been sensitised and properly briefed.

    According to the statement, the board has deployed all necessary logistics and materials to all designated centres, preparatory to the examination.

    It advised candidates to remain focused and be well equipped for the examination.(NAN)

  • Traffic JAMB

    Traffic JAMB

    The shortage of UTME examination centres is disgraceful

    The reputation of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has waxed and waned over the years since its establishment in 1978. Set up to ensure a smooth and coordinated process of admission into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, the board has come to be perceived as symbolic of the so-called crisis of access that is the distinguishing feature of the admissions process in the country.

    In spite of its efforts to improve its performance, it appears that JAMB’s system of examination centre allocation has made things worse for the long-suffering candidates who are compelled to utilise its services. It has become apparent that many candidates residing in Lagos will not be able to write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE) in the state. Over the past fortnight, alternative venues have ranged from Osun State to a variety of locations in northern Nigeria. The situation appears to be similar in other parts of the country, with many JAMB centres said to be completely filled in the south-east.

    The board’s response is that it has sought to ease the situation by offering dual-based and computer examinations as alternatives to the widely-preferred paper and pencil test. Its registrar, Professor Dibu Ojerinde, has argued that allegations of inadequate spaces are untrue and that it is simply trying to ensure that its centres are not overcrowded in order to prevent examination malpractice.

    Regardless of its excuses, there can be little doubt that JAMB must take responsibility for this ridiculous situation. After decades as the body in charge of the examinations, it should have undertaken a thorough assessment of the logistical and other challenges involved in organising the UTME. It could have identified more centres; it could have staggered the examinations; it could have done more to encourage alternative forms of testing. Instead of utilising such options, the board chose the easy way out by imposing clearly unreasonable venues on its candidates.

    The consequences of this are all too apparent. Candidates will be forced to undertake long journeys on Nigeria’s notoriously unsafe roads to strange towns and cities. On arrival, they will lodge in unfamiliar surroundings with all the associated security risks. In spite of the additional expense, and the physical and mental stress of extended journeys, they will still be expected to write the UTME as best they can. It goes without saying that these added burdens could make poor performance even worse than it has been.

    JAMB’s seeming indifference to the consequences of its centre-allocation process is yet another demonstration of the way in which examination bodies ride roughshod over the legitimate concerns of those they are supposed to be serving. Rather than recognise the implicit contractual obligations inherent in the registration exercise, they tend to see it as an opportunity to exploit candidates to the fullest.

    Thus, they cancel the results of whole centres on often-unproven charges of mass cheating. In spite of the payment of registration fees, candidates are obliged to purchase scratch cards to obtain their results. The registration process is often so convoluted and tasking that candidates can spend several days attempting to complete them. And now, candidates have no guarantee that they can sit for the examination in the state of their choice.

    If things are to change, examination bodies like JAMB will have to become more accountable to the citizenry. This will involve greater oversight from the Federal Ministry of Education and from the relevant committees of the National Assembly. JAMB’s obligations to its candidates must be clearly spelt out, with specified sanctions and penalties when they are breached. An examination body which cannot ensure that its candidates can conveniently take its examinations is a contradiction in terms.

  • ‘By 2015 JAMB will only use e-testing’

    ‘By 2015 JAMB will only use e-testing’

    Being first or pioneering new ideas, either alone or as a team player in a group of people sharing a passion, is f a s t becoming second nature for Professor Dibu Ojerinde. Besides being the first to occupy a Chair in Tests and Measurement, he was the pioneer Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, National Primary Education Commission (NPEC), first Registrar/Chief Executive at the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the first Registrar/Chief Executive, Joint Admission Matriculations Board (JAMB) to introduce online application in the conduct of examinations in Nigeria. In this interview with Adetutu Audu, Ojerinde bared his minds on new developments in JAMB. Excerpts

    Why E-testing?

    The internet age has come to stay with us, hence as actors in the new age, you cannot afford to stay on the fence, you must be prepared to join the train or else you’ll be left behind. The programme was designed to migrate candidates from the use of paper and pencil in examinations to full usage of computers. Candidates must know how to use the computer before the full adoption of the system in 2015. One of the benefits of the innovation is that candidates will receive their results 30 minutes after the examination.

    It would also eliminate cases of incomplete results or result blackout and it will ensure prompt delivery of raw scores and will also check examination malpractices. We went out to six different centres to test if it would work. We were at the University of Ilorin, University of Lagos, Abuja and Rivers State University of Technology, Port Harcourt. From our office, we sent questions straight and it took them seven minutes to get them. From JAMB office, Bwari to anywhere in the world, seven minutes you get the questions and they were downloaded. We had about 600 candidates that day. I don’t want to discuss the issue of saboteurs, but whether we like it or not we have local and international saboteurs. But we are making efforts to block them. If you go to Rivers State University of Technology, everything is internet based. They operate paperless world.

    How credible are the people behind the system?

    The last seminar we had, we asked ourselves what are those things that could fail? We say light and we said the alternative is back-up generator and for computers we said UPS. And I am sure all these can’t fail at the same time. Within three and half hours, it is not likely that all these things go wrong.

    One of the advantages of Computer Based Tests (CBT) is to guard against manipulation and the JAMB e-testing is going on as planned. We have about 77 centres where the CBT will hold.

    This year, we are no stranger to the system. Over one million candidates have registered for the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE) and more than 500,000 are still expected to register. The CBT is not compulsory as candidates have a choice to choose either the paper/ pencil testing or the dual based testing, where candidates would read the questions on the computer and answer on the paper with a pencil.

    By 2015, the CBT will become mandatory for all candidates. Out of the one million that have registered so far, only about 4,000 registered for CBT. The idea of CBT is that after 30minutes of the examination, a graphical result will be sent to the candidates’ mobile phones, while specific scores will be sent within four days. The results will show the subjects passed averagely by the candidates which is 50 percent and 59 above average 60 and above. Below average are 49.

    Those who have been able to fill their forms online are having difficulties; they were not able to thumbprint or upload photographs. Even the café attendants were complaining. How is JAMB going to handle that?

    I can boldly tell you that we have registered over one million candidates. We started late last year. Let me tell you some of the things that can lead to the difficulties. For instance, cybercafés are accredited by us because of our previous experience and cheating tendencies of these cafes. About two years ago, 12 candidates ran into a centre with their slips that they wanted to do the exam in Abuja; they went to the centre allocated to them and found that other people were sitting on their seats. And they ran to where I was, journalists were also there. When they checked the details biometric, we discovered that those who were there before were the original owners of the seats. Those 12 people were cheated by a particular cybercafé. And we asked them where they registered, they mentioned the place and I told them to go back and collect their money. So we decided to be accrediting cafes to forestall such in future. If a candidate gets to a cafe, he should ask if it is accredited. If they do, there is a code, before now we can even register in the comfort of our homes and schools. But you have to have a code now. Those people who have problems, possibly the café are not recognised by JAMB. Without code, they cannot access our site to register.

    Some of the cafes have limited bandwidth and wait till night when the narrow bandwidth will be fast. We have seen people who are male and were registered as female. Ogunrinde was registered as Ojerinde. To be frank, cybercafés are part of our problems and we cannot do the registration alone. Our bandwidths have been designed in such a way that it expands as candidates registered. Some people used their toes instead of fingerprints. We have had cases of people coming to the centre without their documents, we asked them to thumb print, once their pictures come up, and they can write the examination. But without that I am sorry.

    I can’t say it can’t go wrong. But practice makes perfect. We have done these three or four times before the end of the year, and we are going to try it again in February. We are working with a high internet service provider.

    You are the current President of International Association for Education Assessment (IAEA). What function does it perform?

    It is an association made up of examination bodies all over the world, ETS – Educational Testing Service is a member, Cambridge in the UK is also a member, the exam body in Netherlands is also a member, in fact all the reputable exam bodies you can think of all over the world are members of the association. It is a body of professionals in testing, measurement, evaluation and in public examinations. In particular we rub minds together, think together to find a way of doing things better. When you learn from a particular group, you go and implement in your own country. I have been a member of the organisation since 1978 as a student in the United States of America. I joined as a student. I have worked with them and they have identified and come to value my contributions to testing and other areas and this was why they made me President. For example, it is under my leadership that UNESCO took up the sponsorship of some programmes in Africa and I was able to attract their sponsorship to Nigeria.

    You have been in JAMB for some years now. What have been your achievements so far?

    Well, we have done a lot; I have been able to put up a computer building in JAMB, which was not there when I came in. Knowing the importance of Information Technology to an organisation like JAMB, we have also equipped it with modern facilities, scanners, and everything required that today we can say it’s the best in the country. We had only five scanners then, today we have over 30 scanners, that is why you do exams today in JAMB and, like magic, in five or six days the results are out. You know the reverse was the case before now.

    In terms of construction, our Test Development building is now there, it was not there before. We furnished and generally renovated the headquarter building. Worthy of note also is the fact that since the inception of JAMB, it had no office anywhere in Nigeria outside the Headquarters in Bwari, today we have within this period built about six offices wholly owned by JAMB and we are still counting. There are now JAMB offices in Jigawa, Oyo, Kwara, Delta, Ekiti and Niger; this completes Phase 1 of our expansion plan. Now we are embarking on Phase 2, and we intend to do over ten offices also. The issue of training is no longer a joke in JAMB. Within the past two months, 16 staff have gone to Netherlands for Item Response Theory Training and that’s what we want to deliver to Africa.

    We’ve started using the civil defence and other para-military agencies for our exams and, I tell you, that it has helped in no small measure to curtail malpractices. We also now use the Biometric data capturing system; it is not only for candidates but for staff. When you resume work you thumbprint and when going, you do the same. By that, the time you came in and went out is recorded. So, we can identify those who don’t come to office, those who come late, and at the end of the month we print out and keep for use for staff upgrading.

    Some people are still criticising the Unified Exam System you introduced. What will you say about it?

    It is ignorance. Now all the candidates who sit for exams have the same background; all of them went through the same secondary school system and possess SSCE. In fact, English and Mathematics are requirements, so why wouldn’t they write the same exams? Also, can we reduce the cost of testing them? Yes we can, but the income of JAMB has reduced as a result of the unification, yet we say just pay for one exam and have a choice of six institutions; two Universities, two Polytechnics and two Colleges of Education. Don’t forget that before now, students would go and write separately for universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, now we say reduce the cost on your parents, just write one exam and you have six choices to make. The Polytechnics and Colleges of Education love it and I know it is the best for the country.

    Universities are conducting post UTME exams and are arguing that it is UTME that should give way for post –UTME and not the reverse..?

    It’s wrong. If they know the reason JAMB was set up, they wouldn’t say this. JAMB was set up to bridge gaps. It has a unifying role it plays in Nigeria. If you localise it, as they now say, some people will remain educationally backward. I know that those who call for the scrapping of JAMB never mean well for Nigeria. Even in the United Kingdom, you have what is called University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), it’s a clearance body like JAMB. Even with their level of development, they have not scrapped the body. The same goes for Turkey and countless countries with peculiar circumstances like ours. Those who established JAMB knew why they did it and I think it is in meeting that desire they so did. Look at the dichotomy between polytechnic and university graduates today, which is very unnecessary.

    It is easy for you to release results these days, but that also comes with problems like missing results and other issues. What are you doing about this?

    We release results on time because we have engaged technology and that is what is helping us. The days of releasing results after three months are gone. Last year alone, we had about 82,000 candidates who had missing results. Instead of four, they got three, or two or one, depending on the shading patterns. Candidates who don’t follow instructions are likely to fail exams, we are not magicians, what you feed the computer with is what you get out of it. They flout instructions and that is the problem.

    You have reduced examination cheating to a bearable minimum. How did you do it?

    When I came in 2007, we had 15.7% cheats, it has reduced to1.67% in the last exam. The scanner is there at the gate to screen out handsets, the Biometric system also came to our rescue. We even capture the pupil of your eyes and then the thumbprint that brings out your picture and so it’s no longer easy to come and cheat. I must not forget the marvellous work members of the Civil Defence and other security agencies are doing for us, we now also use only fenced centres for exams so that we can restrict movement in and out of exam centres.

    There is this lingering crisis over the change of University of Lagos (UNILAG) to Moshood Abiola University of Lagos (MAULAG). Which does JAMB recognise?

     

    For now we recognise UNILAG.

     

  • Dutch exam body trains JAMB workers

    In its efforts to have a hitch-free Computer Based Test (CBT) during the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has organised training on Item Response Theory for its workers.

    A statement by Mr Fabian Benjamin, JAMB Public Relations Officer, noted that the training done in collaboration with CITO Netherlands was to draw knowledge from CITO’s 10 years experience in Computer Based Test.

    Executive Director, CITO Netherlands Mr Jan Wiegers, who anchored the training, noted the Board’s war against examination malpractice will yield fruitful result with the introduction of CBT, adding that electronic testing would reposition the nation’s education sector.

    The Dutch expert on e-Testing and Test Measurement said the flexibility of their existing modular structures has shown that CBT is the only examination that can guarantee quality assurance, standardisation of test and also ensure constructive processes.

    Wiegers’ presentation dwelt on CITO’s 10-year experience, its challenges and how it overcame them, urging the Board to follow its success story.

    The JAMB Registrar, Prof ‘Dibu Ojerinde who was represented by the Director, Corporate Support Services, Mrs Aisha Dahiru, thanked Wiegers for the training and assured him of the Board’s commitment to its CBT policy.

    The Registrar added that progress was recorded in the board’s trial test effort.

    For the 2013 UTME, the Registrar reiterated that three options, Computer Based Testing (CBT), Dual Base Test (DBT) and Pencil Paper Test (PPT)would be available until 2015 when the examination will be done only online.

    “We are convinced and optimistic that if CBT is working abroad it will work in Nigeria,” he said.

     

  • UTME candidates to write computer- based test

    UTME candidates to write computer- based test

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Thursday launched Computer Based Testing (CBT) for candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).

    Launching the new initiative in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, said it was one of the transformative efforts of the government toward revamping the education sector.

    “There are two major objectives of this initiative. First, it is aimed at advancing the nation technologically and the second and the more important goal is to reduce or completely eliminate exam malpractice,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the minister as saying at the launching.

    She said it was a gradual introduction as candidates had two options where they could choose between the CBT, Paper-Pencil Test (PPT) and Dual Computer-Paper Test (DCPT).

    The minister said the new system offered candidates the opportunity to get immediate feedback, get more secured and fair results in line with global best practice.

    She said the other two options, PPT and DCPT, would be open from 2013 to 2015 by the end of which it was expected that all candidates for UTME would be computer literate.

    Prof. Rufa’i said that only purely computer based examinations would be taken by JAMB candidates and expressed the hope that other examination bodies would toe the line of JAMB.

    Announcing the plans, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, said a mass campaign had been lined up to enable stakeholders to understand the advantages of using the system.

    Ojerinde said CBT was conceived out of necessity to address issues that had continued to affect the successful conduct of examinations.