UTME: Stakeholders laud JAMB’s innovations to curb sharp practices

Stakeholders in the education sector have commended the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for its innovations to curb sharp practices in its 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

The stakeholders, however, expressed their opinions in separate interviews with Newsverge on Wednesday in Abuja.

They said that the examination body should go further by applying technology to monitor happenings at the official centres aside from the other security measures put in place.

The Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshals International (EEMI), Mr Ike Onyechere, applauded the board’s plan to organise mock examination for prospective UTME candidates, saying the innovation will help to eliminate malpractice in all its ramifications.

“On the issue of writing mock exam, that is a very good idea, it will eliminate a lot of problem.

“It will also help the board to know the centres that are really ready and have the facilities.

“Unlike what is happening in other exam centres for post primary exit exams, you find that the centres do not have the facilities and they are not well equipped.

“Some of them are not even centres; some of them are miracle centres.

“If they do this inspectorate initiative, they will be able to know those that are qualified, and where there are problems,’’ he said.

Onyechere also expressed satisfaction with the restriction of the sale of the form to one-month duration, adding that this would encourage candidate to brace up sufficiently to the demands of the board.

He was optimistic that this year’s JAMB exam would be an improvement and would make candidates do things in a more organised manner.

Mr Shittu Obassa, a former school teacher and parent, said the innovation introduced by the JAMB would help in curbing various scams associated with the exam.

“A lot of people had hitherto used the opportunity of this Computer Based Test (CBT) to exploit unsuspecting and naïve students.

“The CBT requires familarisation and if you are unable to familiarise yourself with the process, when it is time to do the exam proper, you may have challenges and that may lead to complete failure of the exam.

“But now that the JAMB registrar has introduced things like the mock examination and CCTV cameras to monitor the whole process at the centres, it is a very good one that requires support from the students and parents.’’

Obassa, however, was of the opinion that the one-month time frame for the registration was too small and called on the board to extend it by another month to ensure everyone is duly registered.

He said factors such as proximity to banks and CBT centres, particularly for people in the rural areas must be considered.

Also, Mrs Adekemi Jegede, Assistant Headmistress, Methodist Elementary School, Oke Omi, Osun, appealed to JAMB to increase the number of centres for the exams as it was not enough to accommodate the candidates.

Jegede said it would be good if the board could use the mock exams to test run and ascertain if those centres would be enough to carry registered students in the upcoming exams.