Concerns Over Fate Of UTME, As Students Write Examination

[TGD]

SHOULD the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and its 'baby', the Unified tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), scrapped in line with the contentious recommendations, 1.735 million Nigerians, who wrote Saturday' examination, will go down in history as the last set to write an examination conducted by the body.

During the examination, at some centres visited by The Guardian, candidates, parents and relatives spoke on whether to scrap UTME or not.

While some backed the proposed scrapping, others called for the cancellation of Post-UTME and the strengthening of the examination body.

While the conduct was peaceful and smooth in most venues visited in Lagos, it was a different story in Benue State, as students were subjected to psychological trauma due to the roadblocks mounted by the state sanitation agency. Candidates heading to examination centres were thoroughly interrogated.

It took the effort of journalists and other concerned individuals who called the General Manager of the agency, Mr. Ejiga Akpa, before candidates were allowed to move freely. The early delay caused many candidates to arrive their centres late.

Vincent Junpan and Ngozi Chukwu revealed that they were delayed for more than fifteen minutes even though they were identified JAMB candidates.

The examination officer at Government Model Secondary School, Makurdi, Dr. Daniel Ortserga, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise.

He said the initial challenge of identification of candidates using biometrics machines to recognise their pin numbers was timely overcome.

In Lagos, the state cancelled the monthly sanitation exercise because of the examination. Hence, it was easy for candidates to move around. Those who spoke said that they were happy with the process, as it was peaceful.

For Isabella Ibenu, a relative who accompanied her sister to the centre, the scrapping of UTME will make admission tougher as the process will be marred by corruption.

Mrs. Chinyere Emeh, a mother, noted that the discontinuing of UTME does not mean that examinations to be conducted by individual schools would be transparent. Emeh, who was bothered about those that could lose their jobs after the re-organisation, said that just as JAMB conducted exam is plague with confidence crisis now; the universities entrance exam would likely face similar challenges.

"So if they are going to do it right, it will be okay but the process of the Post-UTME has not been transparent."

To another parent, Mr. Promise Imoh, it would be good to unite the examinations, as the UTME and the Post-UTME, are mere duplication, which put students through unnecessary stress.

According to Mrs. Ifeoma Ubah, also a parent, suspending UTME would make it harder for children of the poor to get admission. She said that many are denied admissions by universities and polytechnics because they cannot afford their way through. She stated that, in many schools, there are different lists from influential members of the society sent to the management of the institutions, who are often compelled to take the students, because the head of these schools were politically appointed and these heads must patronise these political figures.

She also said that the Post-UTME is exploitative, as the charge fees yearly got increased and would skyrocket once there is no UTME, especially by institutions in major cities or recognised as preferred centres. She called for the scrapping of post-UTME and the strengthening of UTME to ensure that it is a true measure of performance.

Mr. Prosper Olisakwe, a parent, believed that scrapping of UTME means there would be no central examination with each university conducting its own examination. This, to him, would promote ethnicity, as many of the institutions would want to favour students from their locality. He cited the University of Lagos where there has been an annual increment in the fees charged for the post-graduate entrance exam it conducts. To him, if the schools were left to conduct their entrance exam, it would be a higher cost for the students and their parents, monetarily and otherwise.

A student, Obasi Chindinma, wants the UTME retained while the Post-UTME conducted by schools scrapped because the standard of the examination is same. She said once Post-UTME is cancelled, the process for the conduct of UTME should be improved and examination malpractices reduced to their barest minimum.

For Tobi Bello, a student also, the UTME should be cancelled which would make students to be more serious because they know they have just one exam to write. Having just the Post-UTME, to her, would also help reduce the cost of getting admitted.

Master Igwilo Kelechi called for the introduction of computer-based exam, as it would help curb examination malpractices.

Mr. Bayo Adesalu supported scrapping of UTME because the process of conducting the exam has a higher level of malpractices compared to Post-UTME. He said that while in UTME there are special centres, which are not available in Post-UTME. He further said that allowing different institutions to conduct its exams gives students better chances instead of being restricted to one or just two exams.



The Guardian