More questions as JAMB finally abandons paper exams
Doubts and controversies continue to trial the Computer Based Test by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board ahead of its full take off in 2015,CHARLES ABAH reports
Sixteen-year-old Tochi Nwankwo looks worried as he completed his 2015/2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination formalities at the JAMB Zonal Office, Enugu, Enugu State.
That he looked anxious while the registration process lasted did not come as a surprise to many people who know him well. The lad had reasons to carry on that way.
It was not that he could not compete favourably in the forthcoming UTME. No. After all, among his peers in his school at the Community High School, Amaozalla, Affa in Udi Local Government Area, and in his neigbourhood, he is a shining light, academically. He always posted excellent results in his examinations. In fact, in his Junior Secondary School examination, two years ago, he obtained an excellent grade.

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Even during the last short vacation classes where he, alongside others, participated in the exercise, he held his head high, beating his contemporaries from the cities in many of the assignments given to them before the tutorials were cut short for the fear and the scare of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease.

But, chief among the things racing in young Nwankwo’s mind was how he would handle the Computer Based Test in the forthcoming UTME proper. In his village school, computer education belongs to the realm of theory. Agreed, there is a computer teacher and a few facilities in his school, these attributes seem to be the end of the semblances of computer training in the institution. Apart from the fact that the gadgets cannot go round, there is no functional electricity or generator to power the facilities.
So, how is he going to cope with the “technicalities” involved in the JAMB-conducted electronic examination if he hopes to secure a place in the nation’s university next year? Again, would he be able to match the speed and, perhaps, the dexterity of his contemporaries from city schools, who will be sitting for the same examination with him? These and many more questions and worries conspired to unsettle the youngster last Wednesday.

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Nwankwo is not a loner in this dilemma. The fate of hundreds of many other young Nigerians is uncertain, as the JAMB CBT initiative goes full blast next year. The sale of the form, which commenced last September 15, will end on January 15, 2015, while the board’s website will close on January 19, 2015.
JAMB inaugurated the pilot scheme of the exercise, which it claimed was the elixir for curbing examination malpractice, two years ago. Canvassing the e-testing option, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, had said, “It will ensure prompt delivery of raw scores; eliminate cases of incomplete results; eliminate result blackout and, above all, check examination malpractice.”
In the 2013/2014 academic session, the board conducted its UTME in three formats – Computer Based Test, Dual Based Test as well as the Paper Pencil Test – and no fewer than 1.6 million candidates sat for the examinations. Apart from the form fee of N4,000, many of the candidates paid extra N700 for the online registration exercise in about 5,628-licensed cyber cafes across the country.
For the 2014/2015 academic session, the board, however, insists that all candidates must go through the CBT procedure. It has already rolled out the fee requirements as well as the registered CBT centres for the exercise.
While some stakeholders are hailing the move, claiming that it is in tune with global best practices for such examinations, others are opposing the idea. For the latter school of thought, they doubt Nigeria’s readiness and the effectiveness of the logistics put in place by JAMB for the initiative’s full take-off.
According to the Education Rights Campaign, the reservations expressed by the likes of Nwankwos are more than real. In fact, the group believes that even in the many city schools, the issue of electricity is still a luxury, not to talk of those in far-flung countryside.
In fact, the ERC, through its Coordinator, Mr. Taiwo Hassan, thinks that the essence of the fresh initiative is to encourage mass failure in order to deny more teeming Nigerian youths admission opportunities.
(http://www.mynaijadream.com/2014/11/jamb-finally-abandons-paper-and-pencil.html)

Good development however, I don't think it is fair to all the candidates involved. Some people have never had access to a computer all their life thus, expecting them to write the exam as a CBT isn't good enough.

GboyegaD:
Good development however, I don't think it is fair to all the candidates involved. Some people have never had access to a computer all their life thus, expecting them to write the exam as a CBT isn't good enough.

Yeah, you're right, it's not fair, but Nigeria has to grow because that's the current trend and development in the world. Besides, it makes a lot of things easier, such as marking (which will more accurate), grouping of results and storage of results (it's easier to store large data in a high storage capacity computer). What I think should be done is a basic computer training for those that need it at a very affordable price every year before the exams.

danypack7:


Yeah, you're right, it's not fair, but Nigeria has to grow because that's the current trend and development in the world. Besides, it makes a lot of things easier, such as marking (which will more accurate), grouping of results and storage of results (it's easier to store large data in a high storage capacity computer). What I think should be done is a basic computer training for those that need it at a very affordable price every year before the exams.

Yes we have to grow but before we start this we must ensure every secondary school has computer application in their curriculum and the students has a first hand experience with using a computer.