General Computer-based Exams to start by 2015 - JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has given 2015 as the deadline for phasing out the paper and pencil method of examination in the country.

The Board advised prospective university candidates to make adequate use of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities that abound in the country ahead of the deadline.

JAMB registrar Prof Dibu Ojerinde made this disclosure in Akure, the Ondo State capital, yesterday at the computer-based testing programme organised by the examination body for secondary school students in the town.

Ojerinde, who led other JAMB officials on the trip, told newsmen that the purpose of the exercise was to make the students see that there was no big deal about computer-based examinations.

Disclosing that the paper and pencil tests are gradually being phased out, the JAMB registrar disclosed that all JAMB examinations will be computer-based from year 2015.

While thanking the management of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), for allowing the board to use its facilities for the advocacy test and the authorities of the secondary schools that participated for releasing their students for the exercise, he expressed happiness at the performance of the students.

“This shows to them that the computer-based test is easy as food they take; in fact, anybody who can use a handset should be able to do the test. As you can see this idea today, over 100 of them did it, even some of their teachers participated and there is no problem at all.

“What we are saying is that the computer-based test is the key and it is the way to go now. Things are changing, if you don’t change, you can be changed; that is how life is, but what we are saying is that technology has changed things and we are moving with the trend,” he said.

Ojerinde who was of the view that the exercise was worthwhile, said the 10 schools that participated have seen its importance, noting that the train of the board would move to Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo (ACE) from Tuesday (Today) “where we are going to do a little bit of advocacy test but mainly,we are going for admission of candidates into Polytechnics, Innovative Enterprises Institute (IEI) and we are expecting about 350 to 400 candidates to be tested there for their admission.

“We did that of UNIUYO about 4weeks ago, and the first set to do admission into polytechnics through this means will take place at Adeyemi, also that of the Colleges of Education will take place there.

While assuring that the security of the new electronic method of examination would not be compromised, Ojerinde said, “You can only hack what you know in technology and unfortunately many people don’t know what we are doing here even the college we are using don’t know what we are doing and we do not go through their server, therefore we transfer it to the terminal and after the whole thing we take it back from our terminal.

“The only way to hack this is if you have our server which is not possible, bacause we have a procedure to protect our server. Hacking is only possible through the internet okay,and this one is not going through the internet at all.

Emphasising on the readiness of the board for computer based examinations he stated that “2015 is the end of all paper test. Everybody will have to do computer based test come 2015. Of cause anybody who want to do JAMB in Akure must do it with computer, if you don’t want computer based test you go else where, where there is no computer, but since we have facilities here and we have also at Adeyemi College, I don’t see any reason why we should have paper and pencil test in any town near this place during the next examination.

“Though not all state capitals are good enough for this exercise in terms of facilities, but wherever the facilities are, we will not hesitate to make good use of them.

“For instance, Ondo is not the state capital of Ondo state but we are lucky to Adeyemi College there, FUTA is in Akure, we also have Elizade University at Ilara Mokin and we have Rufus Giwa Polytechnic in Owo, so the facilities are there and we are going to encourage many candidates as possible to do computer based test, even if we have 3million candidates in 2015, we have enough facilities for them.


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