Knocks, kudos over 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination

The 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been successfully concluded with the results out. Daily Trust Saturday examines the issues after the examinations.   Chidimma C. Okeke (Abuja), Zahraddeen Yakubu Shuaibu (Kano), Mohammed Ibrahim Yaba (Kaduna) & Christiana T. Alabi (Lagos) Though the examination, which commenced […]

The 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has been successfully concluded with the results out. Daily Trust Saturday examines the issues after the examinations.

 

Chidimma C. Okeke (Abuja), Zahraddeen Yakubu Shuaibu (Kano), Mohammed Ibrahim Yaba (Kaduna) & Christiana T. Alabi (Lagos)

Though the examination, which commenced nationwide on May 5 and ended May 16, had a total number of 1.761, 338 million registered candidates in 755 Computer Based Centres, it was not completely hitch free as many had cause to complain. 

With the release of the results last week, some people took to social media to announce that there was an error in the result and that JAMB was going to re-organised the examination, a development that the board refuted, saying there was no error in their results and no plan to re-organize the examination.

But many candidates who posted their results on social media showed that a good number of the candidates scored over 200 in the examination, an improvement from the previous year. 

Though many scored below 200 and expressed concern over their choice of course, this is even as many Nigerians expressed uncertainty in the use of their result to secure admission into the universities due the ongoing ASUU strike which has grounded university education and impeded the progress of those in the system already. 

However, despite all efforts put in by the board to make the exam relatively hitch free, there have been complaints from some quarters. A twitter user by name Mazi Kelechi said: “Yes, I scored 120. JAMB no hard, na my system f–k up”

While his tweet got a lot of reaction, this brought attention to the complaints of technical glitches, disruption of power, change of location, biometric verification issue and in some locations, heavy downpour which hindered some candidates from accessing their examination centres on time.

In some centres in Abuja, candidates who were supposed to write by 7am ended up writing around 8am and in some cases 9am, and thus affecting the whole schedule as they were supposed to be in batches.

It was gathered that at the Digital Bridge Institute, Abuja, some students had difficulty in the biometric verification and so the examination, which was billed to commence at 7am, started a few minutes after 8am while the one scheduled to commence at 9am started at 10:30am.

At another centre, a candidate Emmanuel expressed worry over his performance as a result of consistent disruption of power and appealed to JAMB to find a way to compensate candidates who face such challenges. 

He said he answered the questions to the best of his ability but the constant shutdown of computers as a result of instability will likely affect his performance.

For Aisha Yakubu, her computer shut down thrice as a result of power and technical glitches, but she was fortunate to have completed and submitted on time, unlike many others who were not so lucky.

Also, some candidates complained of incomplete texts in the English language subject. 

Earlier, Daily Trust had reported that candidates complained about missing comprehension in English language. According to them, only the questions and answer options were in the question paper and no passage to read to answer the available questions. 

While many complained of the hitches and the possibility of it affecting their performance, some candidates said their disappointment was in the location they were posted. 

For Usman Musa, 24, in Kano, this year’s JAMB came with a different challenge that almost led to his failure, starting with the issues of NIN linkage, which delayed their registration and cost them a lot.

“This is my third time writing JAMB after graduating from secondary school and I am yet to score the required marks. On the day of our exams, we found out that the computers were not adequate for the number of students seated for the exam at the centre and they asked us to go back home until they get back to us.”

He said they got back after days and that he scored only 128.

Khadija Kabiru Shitu, 19, also said she experienced a challenge with her biometrics a few minutes to the commencement of the exam at her Kano centre, which led her to miss that particular day.

“We were successfully inside the hall and about to start the exam, we even logged in our details into the computer. Immediately they asked us to start, I tapped on the computer only for me to get a message that my fingerprint had failed. 

“I tried several times but it couldn’t let me log in again. That was how I left the hall without writing the exam. I wasn’t alone, so they asked us to go home and wait for their message.”

She said though it was her first time writing the exam, the experience was terrible as she prepared fully for it but had to write at a time she wasn’t expecting to.

For Sulaiman Salisu who sat for his exam at a centre located in Tudun Wada, Kaduna, the exam went smoothly with no difficulties.

“I didn’t encounter any difficulties because I did my examination here in Tudun Wada not far away from my family house. Although we were to sit for the papers by 2pm, after screening it took us another 30 minutes to write the exams around 3pm. The computers functioned well, so there was no problem,” he said

In Lagos State, early morning rain made some candidates to miss their exam as they could not get to their centres on time. 

Most of the candidates, who could not sit for the UTME at centres in Akute, Agbole area, were those scheduled for the 7am examination.

In some centres in Badagry, Ikotun and Ogba, Daily Trust gathered that the downpour made students arrived late while the computer network was affected by the rain.

Centres in the area started the first session of the exam at 8.30am due to the rain so as to allow time for late comers. Those who arrived after 8.40am couldn’t write the examination because they could not be verified again after the questions were pushed on the server.

Parents, educationist speaks

A parent whose daughter was writing for the second time in Abuja said this year’s examination had its own challenges though her ward didn’t have any.

Some of my daughter’s friends were posted to far places and that didn’t settle well with them as it had a way of destabilising them, especially when it is a place they have not been before.

For Alhaji Kabiru Shitu, his three children wrote the exams and none of them scored the required marks to get admission into a university, due to the various challenges they faced.

“I think this is what brings to fore the issue of taking children abroad for studies. Sometimes, we even take our children to unaccredited schools as a result of things like this. Imagine spending your money and overcoming all the challenges, and this is the outcome. Government needs to do something, otherwise the education system is in a dilemma,” he said.

Hayin Malam Bello community leader in Igabi LGA of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ibrahim Fagge, lamented on how JAMB posted their children, especially females to centres outside the state despite insecurity.

According to him, it was wrong for the examination body to send students outside their areas of origin because anything bad could happen.

Fagge’s granddaughter was sent to Kafanchan in Southern Kaduna while his friend’s daughter was sent to Jos Plateau State for the JAMB examination even though they had no relatives there.

“It was not a pleasant experience; therefore, we are appealing to JAMB authorities to reconsider posting candidates to where they don’t know or have relatives to stay with, especially females. For instance, posting a girl from Kano State to Jos or Kafanchan where she doesn’t have a relative to stay with is dangerous, especially with insecurity issues everywhere.”

Reacting, an educationist, Michael Sule, said the conduct of JAMB has been improving over the years and they deserve commendation in trying to make it of world standard.

“The hitches experienced are not as a result of failure from the board but that of the country in entirety. Nigeria is still struggling with power failure, insecurity, poverty and more, with that you cannot experience a completely hitch-free examination.”

He however, raised concerns about those in rural areas, saying, “if the city centres are experiencing power failure, computer network issues and others, what is the fate of those in the village?”

A teacher who wants to be addressed as Sophia, said JAMB has seriously improved and that is a good development. 

“There is nothing that can be 100 per cent free of challenges but it is good that they work towards having a successful outcome,” she said. 

“I am impressed that with the new reform, candidates can check their results with just N50, and no more use of scratch cards. Also, the results come out fast unlike during our days when we had to wait for months,” Sophia said.

JAMB reacts

Earlier, JAMB had warned candidates in the just-concluded 2022 UTME to be wary of the guile and other unsavoury activities of fraudsters who are making false claims of errors in the scoring of candidates in the 2022 UTME. 

JAMB’s Spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement, said the Board is, therefore, maintaining “for the umpteenth time that the UTME is a computer-based test is scored electronically with no human mediation whatsoever.”

He said the unfounded rumours making the rounds are nothing but the products of the deceitful brains of the masterminds of the baseless imputations. 

He said the clarification became necessary following reports of a purported rescheduling of the UTME from a section of the social media citing phantom errors in the computer scoring system and a purported apology from JAMB to the effect that another UTME would be organised. 

He advised the public to disregard this item of news as it did not emanate from JAMB nor did it authorised any individual or group to make such pronouncement on its behalf.