RULES
Ahead this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has initiated rules and guidelines that may eliminate fraudulent practices in the examination system
If the inconsistency trailing admission policies into higher institutions of learning in the last few years in the country, as overseen by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is anything to go by, there is the urgent need for a deliberate policy attempt to streamline the system.
But, there seems to be a move by the examination body ahead of 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to end the many troubles admission seekers into the higher institutions face yearly over its policy inconsistencies, logistic challenges, widespread malpractices and corruption, among others.
However, this is if the new rules and regulations being set by JAMB, the only examination body saddled with the conduct of qualifying and placement examinations into tertiary institutions in the country, to achieve smooth conduct of its examinations, are strictly adhered to by all concerned stakeholders including candidates, parents, invigilators, and computer-based centres’ operators.
The new rules and guidelines, includes the adoption of CCTV cameras for all the CBT centres; adoption of a single hall containing 250 functional desktop or laptop computer systems with extra 25 as backups; that the computers must be minimum 15 inch screens and must be connected to robust computer server with capacity to carry a minimum of 250 systems concurrently; adoption of cabled Local Area Network (LAN) and not wireless connectivity.
Other guidelines are the adoption of cubicles with minimum length of 26 by 18 inches; adequate security with minimum of five technical personnel and a network engineer on site; availability of back-up power supply (power generating set of minimum of 40KVA for a centre with 250 systems) and UPS/inverters that can carry all systems for a minimum of two hours; centres to have minimum of 250-capacity reception facility such as canopy with chairs; centres’ premises must be enclosed and must have adequate and functional air-conditioners, lighting, up-to-date antivirus and minimum of Windows 7, among others.
When it was established in 1977 by the Federal Government, its primary mandate was to conduct entrance examinations into the universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education, but JAMB after about two decades of excellent services, had in the recent times being enmeshed in series of crises which bordered on multiplicity of results, centre relocation and system failure, resulting from its introduction of Computer-Based-Test (CBT) modes.
The crises, among others, had led to the abrupt sack of JAMB’s immediate past Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, and his replacement by the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, whose appointment it was believed was to end the persistent challenges facing the body.
Hence, on assumption of duty on August 8, last year, Oloyede had promised his commitment to revamp the standard of conducting the examination and bring sanity to the system. He reaffirmed that the world is in the age of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and that he would invigorate efforts at deepening that tradition.
He said: “When we introduced Computer-Based Test (CBT) at Ilorin for the conduct of our screening exercise in 2007, we had no doubt that it was the right thing to do. It is gratifying that JAMB had subsequently transited to the use of technology for the conduct of its examinations and I salute the resolve of Ojerinde in that regard as well.
“We shall, therefore, partner the relevant stakeholders in developing a robust technology infrastructure that will ease our task.”
In what could be described as a fulfilment of that solemn pledge and in preparation for the tasks ahead, especially as it concerns this year’s edition of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which will be Oloyede’s first acid test as the Registrar of JAMB, he had in December, assembled all operators of computer-based-test centres across the country to deliberate on the new set of rules initiated by JAMB to guide the conduct of the examinations.
The dialogue session, which took place at the Afe Babalola Hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), was attended by thousands of participants across the country.
Setting the tone of the discourse, the JAMB’s new helmsman emphasised the importance of interactions among major stakeholders in the examination and the openness of the examination body under his watch, particularly in the area of accreditation of the CBT centres, registration of candidates and monitoring of the examination, among other issues.
According to Oloyede, since the examination body adopted the computer-based-test mode in 2013, and up till 2015 and 2016 when it completely shifted to CBT mode, the number of the CBT centres had risen from 69 in Nigeria and five in overseas, to 534 in Nigeria and eight abroad.
He, therefore, reiterated the urgent need for proper coordination of the entire process of accrediting the centres by making it more transparent and devoid of sharp practices.
The JAMB Registrar added: “We are in a period of change and what that means is that everything we have been doing has to be reviewed and we should see to it that what we are doing rightly are reinforced, while we introduce changes to whatever we feel we are doing wrongly. And, this is the essence of this meeting.”
While reaffirming the new guidelines, he explained: “We are introducing CCTV to monitor the activities of our centres from anywhere in the world.”
Apart from this, one other major concern of JAMB was how funds meant for the examination disappear to the thin air through fraudulent practices of some key stakeholders in the conduct of the examination.
Based on this, JAMB is introducing cashless rule to avoid corruption among CBT centres’ workers, who Oloyede alleged have been found in the habit of diverting funds for the examination.
He said the guideline will ensure that monies belonging to either the government or the CBT centres go directly to the right owners through strong partnership with banks.
Under the rule, Oloyede said nobody would be allowed to pay cash for registration or any other transaction in connection with the conduct of the UTME.
The Registrar noted: “We have also introduced the JAMB mobile application to reduce the troubles that the prospective candidates go through before registrations so that the candidates can commence their registrations on their mobile phones to be completed at CBT centres with their biometric data capturing. We are phasing out cyber cafes completely. We do not want any student to have anything to do with them, and we no longer allow offline registration any more. All these are aimed at avoiding mismatching of identities, stealing of pin numbers and other data.”
While acknowledging the fact and expressing the fears that the process could be compromised by JAMB officials, Oloyede hinted that the examination body has concluded plans to appoint men and women of integrity as its ambassadors, who he noted will be saddled with the responsibility of making unscheduled visits to the centres for accreditation.
“If in the South-West we appoint the likes of Prof. Peter Okebukola and in the North West we bring in the likes of Prof. Atahiru Jega, people will know that their integrity is intact. We can trust their judgement, rather than using our staff members, who could be easily compromised,” Oloyede added.
But, the Registrar, who frowned at the decision of the National Assembly to give three years validity to UTME results, however, appealed to the lawmakers to jettison the idea, saying the examination conducted by JAMB is an achievement screening tests, which is unlike Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) that adopts continuous assessment results of candidates in its final scores.
“Extending the validity of JAMB results is like extending the validity of those who take job aptitude tests. We believe that our politicians are all-rounders; yet, we do not need to make a mockery of the system by dabbling into an area that will make people think something is wrong with us in Nigeria. Screening examinations all over the world are one-off things,” he noted.
Meanwhile, some of the participants at the gathering commended JAMB for the innovation, saying the avenue granted them the opportunity to ask questions about the modalities and the requirements for accreditation.
Some of the participants, Stephen Chibuike and Bello Musa Suleiman, who represented Saint Mary’s ICT Centre, Afikpo in Ebonyi Stat, and Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State respectively, pledged to take the message back to their institutions for adequate preparation.
Oloyede, who refused to disclose the deadline for the accreditation of the centres, said as soon as those processes are concluded, the sales of registration forms for the 2017 UTME will commence in earnest.
