UTME 2021: JAMB debunks mass failure, says right syllabus was used

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has debunked news of mass failure in the ongoing 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across the country, saying this year’s performance is not significantly different from those of previous years. The board said it is a fluke and a campaign by those whose source of illicit income had […]

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has debunked news of mass failure in the ongoing 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across the country, saying this year’s performance is not significantly different from those of previous years.

The board said it is a fluke and a campaign by those whose source of illicit income had been blocked.

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This is even as it denied that the questions set for the subjects like Literature in English were based on the wrong syllabus.

The Head, Public Affairs and Protocol of JAMB Dr. Fabian Benjamin said: “The board ordinarily would not have reacted to the half-truth being peddled by some disgruntled candidates, who were ill-prepared for the examination and who, true to all expectations, performed below the expectations of their guardians, that the Board had based its questions on the wrong syllabus.”

“It is our belief that based on facts on the ground, every right-thinking Nigerian would question the 6,944,368 figure on which the 14% “pass” is based. For instance, in the 2021 UTME, 1, 415,501 registered for both UTME/DE. Out of this figure, 1,340,003 candidates registered for UTME and 75, 498 registered for DE,” he said.

He however said the truth of the matter is that all UTME questions are based on texts prescribed for the UTME in its syllabus.

According to him, to ensure that its syllabus is accessible to all candidates sitting its examination, the Board made the material available on three platforms.

The syllabus was issued to candidates through:

• The Board’s Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS)
• The CD which is given to candidates after completion of registration
• The link https://www.ibass.jamb.gov.ng. as provided with the candidates’ profile code.

“It is not automatic that the NECO/WAEC syllabus should transform into JAMB’s otherwise there would not have been a need for a separate syllabus for the UTME,” he said.

While noting that the UTME is not school-based and not an achievement test but a selection or ranking test which ordinarily does not require a syllabus, he said it does not have room for fail or pass as in achievement tests.

The total number of candidates who took the UTME are 1, 300,722 with 78 389 candidates absent.