The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, on Friday expressed support for the bill in the House of Representatives seeking to upgrade validation of JAMB examination result to three years.
Ojerinde made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bwari, FCT.
He said the provisions of the bill, sponsored by Mr Ibrahim Ebbo, the member representing PDP, Niger in the House of Representatives would promote the growth of Nigeria’s educational standards.
Ojerinde said that legislators must work closely with JAMB in the bid to design an actionable plan to ensure the effective implementation of the bill when passed into law.
He advised that the upgrade should be focused more on students’ aptitude test, rather than their achievements in the examination, to chart the way forward.
“If they (Legislators) intend to make our result last for three years, sincerely I like it, but they must ask us the professionals how to do it.
“It is not just in waking up one day to say this result will last for three years; there are things to be taken into consideration.
“The main thing is that one; achievements test is not the same as aptitude test. Aptitude test can last for three years; achievement test cannot last for more than a year.”
“Theirs is to give us a directive and we are to implement, but in the process of implementation we will tell them the right thing to do,” Ojerinde said.
The don called for the establishment of monitoring framework to ensure the continuity.
The registrar explained that aptitude testing was different from achievement, saying that aptitude referred to capability inherent in a person.
“Aptitude testing spans over a period of time, depending on the experience you have garnered; while achievement is based on particular syllabus.
“So if they want that to happen, the answer is that they should go aptitude; we can do it,
“As a scholar, they test you based on your aptitude, what you have inside you, not what you have been taught per say,” he said.
He, however, said there should be creation of relevant awareness to enlighten the public to encourage participation in aptitude testing.
”They must enlighten the public before they go into it.
“If somebody scores 278 points this year and is not admitted, if he says he is going to be admitted next year with 278, it may not be true.
“So don’t endanger the future of the children, we need to work it out. I don’t mind it, it is a thing I will like to do, it will help reduce our problems,” he said. (NAN)