By Chinyere Nwachukwu
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says impersonation and examination malpractice have dropped drastically in its ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)
The Registrar of the board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen while monitoring the ongoing examination at some Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in Lagos on Friday.
He expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the examination nationwide so far, describing it as impressive.
The registrar urged candidates to stay focused, work hard and eschew vices capable of compromising their future, noting that there was no short cut to success.
Oloyede noted that reports from centres across the country had indicated a high level of success in the conduct of the examination.
According to him, the board has introduced more sophisticated devices designed specifically to detect infractions of any form, before, during and even after the entire process.
“Right now, I will say that the examination is going the way it is designed to and I must say that I am very happy about it.
“I am impressed that even throughout the country, the level of examination malpractice, impersonation and other infractions that we have now is very minimal.
“In fact, it is below international standard, in terms of examination malpractice and that is good. This is particularly coming from a place like Lagos that used to be the hub.
“Right now, we have better devices to detect whatever is happening, irrespective of where it is happening, before, during and even after the examination.
“If you look at the situation in the past, prior to this year, it was possible for examination to be disrupted.
“An examination that was initially billed for 8 a.m.could start at 8 p.m. One of the challenges we tried to tackle this year is that one hour or one and a half hour after the commencement of the examination in any part of the country, you cannot sit for that examination.
“We will rather cancel it, because it is no longer valid. This is because the items we have scheduled for that session have been taken elsewhere and it will no longer be proper for us to run it. This is also one of the ways to check examination malpractice,” he stated.
He added that the board was inching closer in eradicating any form of malpractice in its examination, as well as impersonation.
Oloyede regretted the glitches initially experienced in states like Kwara, Niger and Borno, on Day-one of the examination.
He noted that it was expected by the board, as it was test running a couple of innovations.
Oloyede said the challenges had since been taken care of.
He also stated that most candidates affected had since been rescheduled and had been sitting for the examination.
The registrar urged those yet to sit for the examination to check their profiles and SMS of their handsets.
The JAMB boss noted that in the past, candidates who came several hours behind schedule were allowed to sit for the same examination by rescheduling them.
He, however, said that the reverse was now the case as the system would automatically report to the board that such candidate was absent.
Oloyede said he was impressed with the performance of the various centres nationwide.
The registrar also commended other stakeholders who had cooperated fully with the board in ensuring that the integrity of the examination waa not compromised.
He also lauded the candidates for the way they had carried themselves so far, and expressed satisfaction at the way parents had been kept poles away from the centres.
The registrar noted that so far, a total of 1.5 million out of the 1.6 million candidates that registered for the examination ought to have been tested, but fir the resheduling.
“We started on Tuesday, April 25 and so far, we ought to have had about 1.5 million out of the 1.6 million that registered, sit for the examination, but because of the rescheduling of some candidates we have about 250,000 candidates left,” he stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this year’s UTME began on April 25 and would be concluded on May 2. (NAN)
