Group Urges JAMB to Extend PPT mode of UTME Beyond 2014:
A group, Exam Ethics International, on Tuesday urged the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, to extend the Paper Pencil Test (PPT) mode of examination, in the interest of the candidates.
Ike Onyechere, the chairman of the organisation, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the abrupt phasing out of the module would be a disadvantage to many candidates.
Mr. Onyechere said that many candidates would be disenfranchised in the planned winding down of the PPT mode of examination by 2015.
He said that JAMB should consider the effects of the planned phasing out of the mode of examination on the candidates and the performance, before hastening the process.
The official said the present mode of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) should be extended in the interest of the candidates.
Mr. Onyechere said the country had infrastructural, electricity and skill challenges that would thwart the total introduction of the Computer-Based Test (CBT) by 2015.
“JAMB should take a critical look at the system; it must examine the situation in the country before introducing the computer mode of examination that may be characterised with challenges.
“The PPT can be phased-out gradually, while the CBT should be introduced gradually, so that those who do not have the computer knowledge will be considered.
“We must give everyone a level-playing ground to participate in the examination.
“Many students in the secondary schools do not have access to information and communication technology; there are no computers in most schools, and (yet) we want to conduct the examination using computers,” Mr. Onyechere said.
He said that JAMB should not introduce a policy that would not be beneficial to the majority, adding that government policy was introduced to improve the system and not make it worse.
“Most of the candidates will not be able to write the examination using the computer because they lack the skill. Some candidates in the rural areas do not have access to computers, while majority of students even in the urban cities also lack the knowledge of the computer.
“We cannot introduce computer mode of examination without addressing all the problems that will mar the smooth adoption of the mode,” the official said.
JAMB had announced plans to scrap PPT for the CBT as the only mode of the UTME by 2015. (NAN)