JAMB tasks CBT owners on facilities

Abuja Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has tasked Computer Based Test (CBT) owners on facilities as preparations for the 2018 Unifi ed Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), begin soon. JAMB Registrar, Professor Is-haq Oloyde said in a speech delivered at a meeting with owners of Computer Based Test (CBT) that as a way of moving forward, the Board would strengthen the verifi cation exercise by adopting immediate measures aimed at correcting past mistakes.

He said verifi cation of CBT centres would be done unannounced and regularly, adding that centres that failed to perform to the expected level would be delisted. “Th e Board will engage the services of local professionals who will be assigned with the responsibility of inspecting the centres regularly and will not tolerate fl ying cables, as all cabling must be properly trunked. CBT centres are to be established in buildings without any possibility of connection with any other room or facility”, he said. Oloyede said for the purposes of proper coordination and accountability, CBT centre owners should engage professionals with capacity to manage chains of CBT centres. “Th is is for ease of administration and to eliminate some of the embarrassing challenges based on our recent experience”, he said adding that mega centre format was to hold a company or group of companies responsible for a block of centres and enhance their profi ciency.

“Th e idea is to reduce the level of diversion being created by direct accreditation of individual centres. We are considering the idea of having a mega centre in each of the six geo-political zones. Your input is welcome”, Oloyede added. He said experienced at the 2017 UTME showed that besides other infringements, centres were noted to be “malpractice induced, creation of illegal connection to ‘VIP’ rooms where candidates with the right prizes were allowed to sit for examination clandestinely. “Creation of deliberate technical hiccups in order to retain JAMB questions for clandestine purposes and unwholesome commercialisation and extortion of candidates and gullible parents”.

Other infringements, according to him, were “unruly behaviour to examination offi cials, deceit and round tripping of equipment, inadequate facilities and technical problems. To nib the problems in the bud, Oloyede said beginning from 2018 registration, all candidates would register under the lenses of the CCTV camera and the footage uploaded to JAMB. “We have discussed with the telecommunication service providers the details of the required bandwidth and data for the operation. Th ese measures are aimed at curtailing the need and demand for corrections. “Th us, any centre that makes a mistake during the registration, as will be proven by the uploaded forms and CCTV footage, will be liable for such errors as they will not be paid for the total number of candidates they have committed such errors. “Th e process of scanning and uploading completed forms by candidates has to be done meticulously. Th e details of this process would also be explained later.

“In addition, scanning of passport photograph would not be accepted anymore. Rather real time capturing of candidates’ photo at the centre would now be the rule”, Oloyede added. He appealed to CBT owners to work towards enhancing their effi ciency if they wish to be retained for the Board subsequent activities, stressing the need for them invite the Board for inspection of their facilities, invite students commensurate to the capacity of the centre for a trial testing of the centre at full capacity. “Th e centre will run a trial test examination for two hours and this must be conducted smoothly without any hitch. “All facilities of the centres including the computer systems, cooling systems, CCTV Cameras, generating sets, backup inverters or UPS and other requirements would be put to test during the exercise. “Th e Centre must provide adequate security for such exercise. “Th e exercise would be observed by an Independent Technical Advisor chosen by the Board”

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