The recent release of this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination has sparked off angry reactions from candidates and their parents, who accused the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) of inefficiency; a charge the board’s Registrar, Prof Dibu Ojerinde has firmly rejected. MARY OGAR and UJUNWA ATUEYI examine the various arguments tabled by those for and against the board.
THEJoint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has come under intense verbal attacks from candidates, their parents and other stakeholders over its handling of this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to the board’s Registrar, Prof Dibu Ojerinde, out of the 1, 644, 110 candidates that sat for the examination, 1, 629, 102 applied to sit for the Paper Pencil Test (PPT), while a paltry 15, 008 others opted for the Dual Based Test.
Only 10 candidates scored above 300 marks out of 400, while 127, 017 scored between 1 and 159 marks. About 40, 692 results were declared invalid “due to either multiple shading or no shading at all” while 47, 974 candidates were absent.
Like last year’s edition, this year’s UTME was fraught with many problems all over the country. There were cases of candidates who could not find their names on the day of the examination; some had the wrong combination of subjects assigned to them; the so-called biometric system also failed in many centres with many laptops used for process running out of battery power.
But Ojerinde could not be bothered. He has put the blame squarely in the candidates, accusing them of either engaging in multiple shading or not shading the appropriate boxes. He also blamed the candidates over the withheld results, insisting that the results of 68, 309 candidates from various centres would have to undergo further screening to ascertain the number of those who engaged in malpractice.
For some stakeholders, the yearly JAMB crisis has again put a question mark on its ability to assure universities, polytechnics and colleges of education of the credibility of the UTME scores.
The latest development has also reopened the controversial debate on the Post-UTME test, introduced in 2005 by the universities and which has endured.
Former Education Minister, Dr Chinwe Obaji and Ojerinde disagreed over the post-UTME test at that time. Ojerinde, who appeared before the Senate Committee on Education investigating the legality of Post-UTME, called for its cancellation, accusing universities of using the test to rip-off university admission-seekers. But Obaji had also argued that the test was an intervention by government to address the JAMB’s failure to ensure the sanctity of its examination. To Ojerinde the Post-UTME test was another matriculation examination that contravenes the law-establishing JAMB. But Obaji insisted that there was no correlation in the high scores presented by many candidates and their actual performance in semester examinations.
Ojerinde, who appeared on a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme at the weekend said over 700,000 candidates scored 180 and above in this year’s examination. According to him, some candidates entered Paper Type as A, B, C, D when the types were composed of D, I, B, U (From his name initials), attributing the fake paper type to plans by some of the students to cheat and beat the system
While the Registrar insisted that students were no longer serious about their studies, he accused most of them of failing to read the two novels recommended by JAMB in a particular subject from which questions were set. Contrary to the accusations of complacency, Ojerinde expressed confidence in the board’s marking process. He challenged candidates who feel that their scripts were not properly marked, to visit JAMB’s office from June 1st to get them remarked. He also pledged a compensation of N100, 000 for any candidates if errors were confirmed in the marking of their scripts.
However, Ojerinde recently announced that over 227,000 results withheld for lack of Biometric Data Verification have now been released after scrutiny. He also disclosed that the board would scrap the Paper Pencil Test in 2015. He said: “By 2015, we will be asking candidates to go fully into Computer Based Testing. But that again depends on availability of centers. For now, we have only 70 centers all over the country and this is not sufficient. We are encouraging as many individuals, who can participate in this project to go and build their centers, then we will patronize them.”
Vice Chancellor of Caleb University, Imota, Prof Ayodeji Olukoju said: “With all the crisis, JAMB has to look at its operations and seek avenues for improvement. It is unfortunate that students would have to be subjected to all these rigours because the responsibility is on the universities to now also act as a clearing house. With the challenge of access to higher education, we would now have a smaller number of candidates to take in and make the best out of a bad situation”.
To the Dean of Humanities, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun state, Professor Dan Izeubaye, those calling for the scrapping of JAMB are missing the point. Rather than extinguish it as some have advocated, he advised that JAMB’s weakness should be corrected through adequate measures to erase corruption and cheating.
His words: “Jamb is a good idea and should not be scrapped. There is a defect but it can be corrected. JAMB’s Registrar should look for a way to block the corruption and cheating going on. If government scraps JAMB, we are going to have the problem of multiple applications and the exploitation of institutions will increase.”
However, Rector of the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Dr. Jacob Olusola Agboola, condemned the conduct of the last UTME, stressing that it was characterized by a mismatch of candidates’ data, which resulted into various problems.
“For instance,” he complained, “the names of some students were missing from the list of candidates, in addition to other logistic problems, which interfered with the reliability the test. If the conduct was hitch free as JAMB has claimed, these problems will not emanate. JAMB should follow the normal procedure and do things appropriately to avoid all these errors.”
To the Dean, School of Environmental Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Mr. Olusegun Aluko JAMB is moving faster than necessary and “is not considering the interest of the students who are the most important factor.” He said: “What is the advantage of students get their results immediately after the examination, when they cannot use it? Why is JAMB so much in a hurry to release results that will be used in three or four month’s time? If JAMB can release results in two or three weeks and take time to do it properly, we have not lost anything as a country. But this computer-based thing and all the issues and problems associated with have not solved any of the problem we had before they (JAMB) embarked on it.
“Somebody did her fingerprint for her picture and at the end of the day, they said it could not be found. Why? Because they are too much in a hurry to release result in the next hour. Again, some of the computers they gave their officials were not well charged. They trip off anytime, thereby bringing about loss of information. JAMB is depending so much on electricity to solve problems when electricity problems in the country have not been solved. We like deceit in this country. If JAMB could do a credible examination, we won’t actually have any need for a post UTME test.”
However, the Acting Registrar, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Abdullahi Ahmed Kundila has a contrary opinion. “JAMB is not to be blamed,” he declared. “JAMB has done nothing wrong. The students are to be blamed and may be the general system of education in the country should be blamed. When you go to most secondary schools in the Nigeria, you will discover that they lack basic learning facilities and in most cases, some of their teachers are not qualified. So, what do you expect?”
The second Vice President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr Segun Ajibola, said: “JAMB has done a lot to instill some discipline into the Nigerian admission system by regulating entry into higher institutions generally. But one thing is that JAMB is running faster than its leg can carry it and the country as a whole. They have been moderating the examination very well, but my personal opinion is that introducing the online examination at this point, considering the level of computer literacy in the country, especially among secondary school students, is rather coming too early.
Meanwhile, some candidates who spoke with The Guardian expressed disappointment over the scores “allocated” to them, alleging that most of them were “failed” by JAMB because the board believed that some questions leaked days before the date of the examination.
Deaconess Funso Ayorinde, a teacher and parent said: “If JAMB claims that some candidates had answer scripts before the examination, why didn’t they cancel and reschedule the examination? Why are they in a hurry to conduct an examination characterized by fraud and subsequently delay innocent candidates whose results are withheld? By the way, where did the candidates get the scripts from, or are they also from the parents?”
Another parent and teacher from Government Secondary School Akankpa, Cross River State, Mrs. Abuokwen Mary, whose son wrote the examination, pleaded with the board not to punish all candidates because of the deeds of some corrupt ones.
“This is the second time my son is writing the UTME and having his result withheld. He wrote the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) once and made nine credits. Officials of JAMB should be vigilant enough to identify such culprits in the hall, and not suspending others who might be innocent of the act.” she said
According to her, JAMB should not be scrapped because “the admission process in Nigeria might become a rich man’s affair.”
Another parent and a trader living at Ikotun, on the outskirts of Lagos, Mrs. Nonye Ndukwu, whose daughter wrote the UTME for the second time said: “I don’t understand this negative marking by JAMB. My child’s result is poor and she has been crying her eyes out ever since she saw her result.”
Her daughter, Chioma, told The Guardian: “I wanted to study Microbiology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, but as it is now, I can go for any course at any institution. I can’t wait for another one year. My younger siblings are already mocking me and I can’t stand their mockery this time.”
Meanwhile, some SS2 and SS3 students have called on the government to scrap JAMB. According to a Senior Secondary 2 (SS2) student of International School, University of Lagos, Miss Ona Akinde, “JAMB should discontinue organizing the UTME since they do not have the necessary tools or ability to control malpractices. There should be some form of basic examination into higher institutions.”
Her friend Osonwa Ihuoma, said: “when JAMB was established, it was very good. But right now, I don’t think we should continue with it. I heard a lot of people have written three to four times and this is very discouraging. All these corrupt candidates will manoeuver and get high scores in the UTME, thereby reducing the chances of brilliant ones who cannot toe their path. I think I prefer the post –UTME test.”
Also, Nwani Chikamso of St. Finbarr’s College, Lagos said: “JAMB should be scrapped because it is the only examination with so many malpractices and irregularities, putting the chances of brilliant ones at stake. But if it must continue, then let the UTME be computer based.
But Nwobu Chukwuka from Kings’ College, said: “It (JAMB) should be scrapped whether computer based or not. If it is computer based, there are some people that are gurus in computer dynamics, who will still find ways of cheating.”
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