The 2013 UTME is approaching, from the hypothesis we conducted on some majority of the candidates that will be sitting for the exam, we discovered most of the candidates that will attempt the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are yet to know how the exam will go.
Thanks to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for explaining the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) procedure to give candidates better understanding regarding the exam. Read the Full details of the report below.
Clement Idoko, writes on the preparation of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) toward smooth administration of e-testing proposed for the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scheduled for April 27.
MANY Nigerians have expressed concern about the proposed e-testing for candidates sitting for the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scheduled for 27 April, 2013. While some had called for outright cancelation, some others argued that the system will fail because of the low level of computer literacy in the country.
Opponents of this Computer-Based Testing (CBT), also hammered on the lack of infrastructure such as computers to support the system. The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Education, Honourable Rose Oko had also ecpressed similar concern recently.
However, the Registrar and Chief Executive of JAMB, Professor ‘Dibu Ojerinde, explained that the board has introduced three options for candidates sitting for the 2013 UTME. He listed the options as Paper and Pencil Testing (PPT), Dual-Based Test (DBT), where questions would be presented on computers and answers would be on paper and Computer Based Testing (CBT) where both questions and answers would be done on computer.
Ojerinde stated that candidates were at liberty to choose one of the three options in the 2013 UTME. The registrar said that the most advantageous part of the CBT was that candidates would get their scores few minutes after writing the examination on their GSM cell phones. E-testing was also introduced as part of efforts to curb the high rate of examination malpractices that usually characterised the conduct of public examination in Nigeria.
He said: “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 are left behind”. He urged candidates to study hard for the 2013 UTME, adding that consistent hard work was the panacea to success in any examination.
However, in order to ensure a hitch-free conduct of the 2013 UTME, the board recently had a brain-storming session with over 166 coordinators for CBT and 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.
Ojerinde, who declared open the training programme, charged the coordinators to see their engagement as a national call and service to their fatherland. He said 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.
He emphasised the critical role of the examination officials in smooth administration of any examination, saying, “In 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.”
Professor Ojerinde pointed out that the purpose of training was to provide comprehensive information on the role of the UTME coordinators, supervisors, centre coordinators, assistant coordinators, invigilators, technical staff and attendants for the smooth conduct of the 2013 UTME.
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.
Dr Lawal pointed out that “Between 2007 when Professor ‘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 Ojerinde introduced the UTME in 2010, on the heel of this, we are here in 2013 celebrating the introduction of CBT.”
“We congratulate the registrar and chief executive, management team and staff of the board for the general innovations that have practically taken the board to the next stage of development.”
He said the CBT mode will be conducted alongside two other modes, that is, DBT and the traditional PPT.
He explained that in the CBT mode, the deployment of question and responses would be on the computer while in the DBT, the questions will be deployed on the computer while responses would be on OMR answer sheets; and of course the traditional PPT would be presented on paper and the responses will be on OMR answer sheets.
He added, “It would be most appropriate to re-emphasise 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.”
Public Relations Officer of JAMB, Mr. Fabian Benjamin, who gave further insight into the preparation for the April 2013 examination, said every necessary arrangement has been put in place to ensure a smooth conduct of the examination.
He allayed fears about the introduction of Computer-Based Testing, which according to him, is one option that would only be used by candidates who chose it because of their proficiency in the use of computer.
Mr Benjamin said: “At the point of registration, a candidate chooses which of the options he or she wants. If you want to sit for CBT, which is computer-based test, or you want to sit for DBT, which is DBT is the combination of Computer-based Test and Paper-based test. The questions are deployed on computer but the candidate now answers on a script.”
He further explained that immediately he or she indicates the option he wants, he goes ahead to fill those requirements. “At the close of registration, once it is sent, it gives you a print out. In that print out, your name is there, passport, subjects, your choice of schools and the date allocated to write the examinations, in the case of CBT; because those for CBT are not writing in one day. Each candidate has his own date and session. Even if it is the same day, some people will write in the morning, some in the afternoon and some in the evening. But if it is two sessions, it means some people will write in the morning while others will write in the evening. But the DBT is Saturday 27 April”.
JAMB spokesman, however, said the initial plan to spread the conduct of CBT for a period of two weeks, is currently being challenged by the fact that it would clash with some West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council papers. He disclosed that the board was already holding talks with the two sister examination bodies on how to shift the papers.
Benjamin said: “Now we are having a little challenge over CBT. Initially, what we wanted to do was a situation where they will write the CBT first. The CBT will stretch up to like two weeks and finish on a Friday. Then the DBT candidates will write on Saturday. But WAEC and NECO have papers like Economics, Physics and some others that clash with some of those days. We are talking with WAEC and NECO to see if they will shift theirs or we will shift ours. Whatever it is, we should be able to come up with a particular day that they will write the CBT. So, the former date that was indicated in their print out is not going to hold”.
According to him, “What we are going to do is that immediately we agree with WAEC, we are going to send information through bulk SMS to them, asking them to go back to the cyber café and print another printout that will indicate their various centres, session and date.
“If you are writing CBT, everybody has his own date. You will be writing on a Monday, I will be writing on a Tuesday or we may be writing on the same Wednesday but we will have different sessions.
Your session might be in the morning and my session might be in the evening in the same centre. Like in Abuja, some people will write at Chams City and some other centres. In Kwara State, University of Ilorin has facilities like the computers,” he said.
He also reminded the candidates that they cannot migrate from one option to another on the day of examination as according to him, each of the three options has its peculiar registration number that cannot be changed during examination.
He noted over 3,100 centres have been designated to be used nationwide for the examination
Source: Tribune
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