UTME STUDENTS

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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