At least 1.7 million prospective tertiary institution candidates will tomorrow begin to write for the 2017 UTME to qualify them for admission, MARTIN PAUL writes.
Ten months into the saddle, there is no disputing the fact that the new Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyede is going to the fi eld to face a football team, which is larger than eleven players, besides those on reserved bench.
Tomorrow May 13, 2017 is going to be the beginning of his journey to martyrdom in the conduct of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) throughout the country. Already, as at last weekend, more than 1, 736,571 had registered for the examination that would take place in 624 centres, which have been succinctly equipped with computers and other electronic gadgets to facilitate smooth conduct of the examination.
Oloyede said JAMB is desirous that no candidate is deprived of taking the examination. Th us, it would be conducted, using an Equal Opportunity Group, which consist of experts, who have graciously assisted in the assessment exercise. Th ree hundred and twenty-one visually impaired candidates also registered for the examination as at last week and Oloyede said adequate arrangements have been made to ensure they partake in the examination. However, it was not clear, as before, if prison inmates would be participating as they used to write the examination in Kaduna and Lagos prisons.
It is convincingly that the number of candidates for the 2017 UTME has increased by 464, 289, compared to 2016, when 1, 272, 284 sat for the examination and indication is that it might go above the fi gure when the exercise would fi nally come to a close at the end of the monthTh e truth is that the population is rising, more demand for tertiary education, the combination of those seeking admission to polytechnics and the style the board has adopted to make easy registration of candidates this year. Statistics released by the board, as at May 9, showed that Imo state topped the registration with 101, 868 candidates, while 2017 UTME: Oloyede in a litmus test Osun came second with 88, 653 and Oyo had 87, 811 for the examination.
Ogun state came on the forth position from the top 10 with 81, 349 candidates, Delta had 81, 108 and Anambra recorded 77, 253 registration, while Kaduna got 72, 104; Kano, 70, 276; Kogi 70, 150 and Benue 68, 916 candidates. In the spirit of the Change Mantra of the present government, Oloyede has brought several innovations into the conduct of his maiden UTME. For instance, while in the past, only four banks were authorised to sale or register prospective candidates, his era has increased the number to 10, while eleven other nonbanking sector agents, were also licensed for the job.
But, he was quick to warn that it would no longer be “business as usual” for middlemen, who have constantly thwarted the eff orts of the board to have a hitch-free examination. Oloyede said: “Th e board has secured through diligent prosecution, the conviction of two Nigerians, who forged the board’s results and came around for confi rmation”. Similarly, a number of CBT centre owners are either arrested or cautioned for one infraction or the other, while others are already facing prosecution for off ences that contradicted the rules and guidelines of the examination body. In the new dispensation, Oloyede said one of the innovations introduced has reduced the cost of conducting UTME, stressing, however, that the board has “saved Nigeria billions of naira through checkmating the excesses of some undesirable elements, leaving them with abundant funds they had made to launch attacks against us, both technical and psychological”.
Perhaps, having known how dubious some people could be, Oloyede said: “We have put in all measures to ensure that everything runs s expected, yet we know that perfection is in the exclusive list of the Almighty”. The introduction of the Computer Based Test (CBT) in the examination, according to the registrar, is still posing some challenges, especially with the digital divide in Africa. Oloyede identifi ed those who found the innovations revolutionary, were making things look diffi cult for its success just as those who benefi ted from the old order of Pencil Paper Test (PPT), were protesting and waging media war against the system.
“With some of these issues on the table, it was realised, on my assumption of offi ce last year that some reforms within the CBT system were urgent and fundamental”, he said. Since Oloyede is not strange to policy formulation of JAMB, he expressed the belief in the title of his press statement that “everything happens for the good”. Recalling that the mock examination, which recorded a huge success, was fi rst botched, he declared: “I believe that the challenges so far, both anticipated and the unexpected, have proved to happen for the good. JAMB is more prepared now after learning all the lessons from the recent past to organise a successful UTME”. In what he called “renewed system, new reforms”, the registrar since technology is to make things easier, the board decided to invest hugely in it for the overall interest and benefi t of candidates. While the present management of the board retained the application fee at N5, 000, Oloyede said: “We have strengthened out ICT infrastructures and developed robust system of monitoring registration and examination processes across the country. “We have abolished the use of scratch card, which unscrupulous businessmen and their collaborators, within and outside the Board, hoard and subject other forms of abuse to defraud Nigerians. ‘We have increased the capacity of our test centres to 250, with only a few in categories B and C having the seating capacity of over 200 and 100, respectively.
“Th is will make eff ective documentation and monitoring easier. We have also increased our CBT centres to 624 from the previous 524. We have created 691,000 registration points instead of the previous less than 1000. Th is means that we developed a system that would allow 691,000 candidates to register in 10 minutes with our free access code granted to 100 points of registration at each centre even if our plan was to register 50, 000 candidates per day. “We have engaged the services of reputable and credible Nigerians to assess what we have been doing and they have been helping us with critical and valuable advice. “Besides, we have also widened our vending banks from four to 10 and also brought on board, Interswitch, Remita and NIPOST”.
It is on record that since the establishment in 1978, JAMB has undergone several transformations to make examination and admission of candidates into tertiary institutions easy. Recall that its fi rst examination called University Matriculation Examinations (UME), was conducted for universities, but when polytechnics and colleges of education were added, the board added the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (PCE) examination. With the amendment of the decree establishing it, the name of its examination was changed to Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Recall also that the board conducted its fi rst examination in 78 towns for 96, 884 candidates in Nigeria and Th e Gambia, but with increase and expansion, Cameroun, Ghana and Saudi Arabia become centres for the examination. “As we are set for the 2017 exercise, we have expanded on almost all the frontiers of the examination”, Oloyede said.
