For computer-based UTME, it’s different strokes
Controversy surrounds the
computer-based test for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination,
two years after its inauguration, FOLASHADE ADEBAYO writes
When the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board introduced the computer-based test for the Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examination in 2012, the motive was to eliminate
incidents of missing scripts and results, examination malpractice and
keep pace with modern examination methods in developed countries.
According to the JAMB Registrar, Prof.
Dibu Ojerinde, the CBT has a niche over other methods with its capacity
to check the cases of malpractice by JAMB candidates.
He added that the CBT would ensure that candidates instantly receive their results after each examination.
But barely two years after its take off,
candidates writing the UTME are still singing different tunes about the
CBT. Our correspondent, who spoke with candidates at different centres
in Lagos on Wednesday, found that it was different strokes for different
folks.
At present, the CBT exercise is going on in the country and no fewer than 600, 000 candidates are writing the examination.
Before now, over one million candidates sat for the Paper and Pencil Test on April 12, 2014.
However, last Tuesday in Lagos, our
correspondent gathered that a candidate, who mistakenly clicked the
‘submit’ button on his computer while writing Paper One of the CBT at a
centre on Isaac John, GRA, Ikeja was asked to leave the examination hall
before the end of the test. The reason for his forced eviction was that
since he had clicked the submit button, the implication was that he had
concluded his four papers for the test. In fact, it was learnt that the
invigilators told the candidate that there was nothing they could do
about his “mistake”.
So for the concerned candidate, the
slight mistake on the computer has caused him a big problem. Indeed, of
the 400 marks for the entire exercise, he has already lost 300.
Also, Anthony Ogbonna, who wrote the UTME
for the first time this year, admitted that one of his friends from
another Lagos centre had a challenge using the mouse.
“He actually wanted to write the PPT, but
the PPT centres had closed by the time he registered. He had problems
using the Moxilla Firefox and invigilators had to help him out. We also
did not have our materials at the beginning. We were supposed to start
with our writing materials and calculators,’’ he said.
But just as the youngster, who wrote the
CBT on Isaac John street, is complaining about what befell him, other
candidates are singing a different song. For instance on Wednesday when
our correspondent returned to the centre, those who successfully
finished writing the examination expressed satisfaction with the method.
While admitting that some of their colleagues had challenges
maneuvering the mouse, the consensus was that the CBT was a step in the
right direction.
For Chimdima Emelumadu, a candidate
writing the UTME for the second year running, the CBT is easier to
tackle than the PPT. Emelumadu, who graduated from Yeshua High School,
Ojodu, Lagos, said though the PPT “is okay the CBT is better. The
questions are clearer. I did not have any issues with the CBT. I think a
novice can manage to use it.
“I wrote the paper and pencil test last
year and I must say the CBT is far easier. It is okay. The instructions
are clear. Maybe the boy did not read the instructions. But the
invigilators also read out the instructions. You are required to attempt
at least 10 questions per subject. So you are not expected to submit
until you have answered 40 questions. So, the mistake must have been
from the boy,’’ she said.
Another candidate, Akinwande Doyinsola,
who graduated from the Lagos State Senior Model College, Badore, Lagos
agrees with Emelumadu. Doyinsola, prefers the CBT to PPT.
Akinwande said, “Yes, some people could
not right-click with the mouse but once you indicate you have a problem,
the invigilators would attend to you. It is true that if you cannot
right-click, it would be difficult to choose and answer. But I like it,
there was enough time and the calculation was not much compared to the
PPT I wrote last year.”
At another centre at the Lagos State
Polytechnic however, invigilators were not allowed to help candidates
out of their technical predicament. One of the invigilators, who craved
anonymity, pointed out that many of the candidates were not
computer-literate, hence the difficulty they had in using the computer.
When contacted, the JAMB’s Public
Relations Officer, Fabian Benjamin, said there were provisions for
technical support for such issues.
He noted, “You don’t need to be
computer-literate to write the CBT. If you submit your papers before you
are through, you can recall your paper. Just talk to the technical
staff. We are talking about candidates going to the university. I do not
see why a candidate who wants to gain admission to a university should
not be dropped if he could not read simple instructions. You are
supposed to key in your registration number and then you see the
instructions.
“The media is not helping this country at
all. You are always trying to see the negative. If a candidate who
wrote a PPT exam did not finish his exam, would you have called me on
such matters. Do you even know the advantages of the CBT?”
Contrary to Ojerinde’s enthusiasm,
however, candidates writing the CBT are not able to get their results
immediately after the examinations. While it takes three days for CBT
candidates, results for PPT candidates takes five days.
For candidates who sat for the DBT and
the PPT examination in April, it has been announced that only 47
candidates scored 250 and above.
Alongside the Dual Based Test, the CBT
was introduced to complement the traditional paper and pencil testing,
PPT in 2012. Prospective candidates seeking admission to universities,
polytechnics and colleges of education in the country were allowed to
make a choice.
Meanwhile, Ojerinde has said that the DBT
and the PPT will be phased out eventually. While announcing the
emergence of the CBT test in 2012, Ojerinde had affirmed that all
candidates sitting for the UTME would write the CBT in the future.
“We did a survey and about 76 per cent
respondents approved the e-testing. So, starting from next year, we will
commence putting it to practice but it is not until three years time
that will fully implement it. So, whoever preferred the manual next year
and in two years time will be allowed,’’ he said.
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