YOU HAVE TO READ THIS, A LETTER FROM ERASMUS ALANEME NEWLY APPOINTED JAMB REGISTRAR

source http://allafrica.com/stories/200706200754.html

Newly appointed Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Prof Dibu Ojerinde in this interview with Erasmus Alaneme speaks on release of the Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) three weeks after its conduct, admission processes, examination malpractice and the board's plan to curb it among other education issues. Excerpt,


On the release of JAMB result:


The report that we released the results of the last Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) of course was not a lie, that was about twenty days after the examination which was a little less than three-weeks. And let me confess that we would have released the results even on the Monday, May 28 preceding the Thursday which we released it. But because of the euphoria of swearing in of the new government, we didn't want that to cover up our own news, so we decided to move it to that Thursday. But still to answer your question, the trick that ensured we achieved that was simple. We used our staff and we just decided that look these results should be out within two weeks. We aimed at the Sun so that we will reach the Moon. We couldn't reach the Sun but we reached the Moon.

However, I want to say that we were able to use the facilities of the National Examination Council (NECO) to process the results of the UME, and you know I came from NECO and have an idea of the latter. I know at that time that the facilities in jamb was not sufficient to be able to meet our target, so I carried some of the staff of JAMB and said to them, lets go to Minna, we went to Minna and there the Minna group joined us and we started. The most important thing in examination is data capturing, after you have captured the data, all other things are so easy and automatic. So I think that was what really helped us but of course we pushed people and they were ready to work. Let me confess that all the people at JAMB are ready to work, they were ready to do it well. So I said this is what we must do and they accepted and that was all I will say that is the trick.


Time frame for JAMB results in future:

If we have the facilities in place, believe me we can do it in two weeks. In fact this one was two weeks only that the release was in the third week but in the real sense of it, it was two weeks. I mean the capturing and processing of the data was done in two weeks. But in NECO, there were about 41 scanners to capture the data whereas in JAMB there were only 10 and only four or five were working. And you know the concept of convergence which the Federal Ministry of Education is preaching about is already taking place among the nation's examination bodies and we are working together. What I am saying in effect is that we must improve the facilities in JAMB to be able to reach this type of target.

Let me tell you because we were able to release the result on time, the tendency for examination malpractice was terribly reduced. I mean there is no point, you will not steal when the house is empty, don't tempt the staff. People are complaining that they were manipulating the result but now, you can see that they had no time to do such thing. Therefore we need these facilities to make sure that the results are released on time, so expansion is the answer.

Standard of JAMB questions:

Fantastic, I must confess the standard of the examination was very high. The questions were of high quality, they met the required test construction concept. The only thing is, that we need to set more items for the questions. Instead of 50 items in Physics, 50 in Mathematics, 50 in Chemistry, we should expand it to something like 80 or 100 if we can but that means we need to spend more time in the examination halls. But generally I must confess the items were of very high quality.


Post-UME:

Post-UME screening came up as a result of some problems which the universities were facing in terms of admission of candidates who use to come in with high scores but can not maintain it, making it impossible for them to validate that they really worked for the high scores. However, it is not sufficient to exploit the children. But I believe that if JAMB is being well done, I don't think this post-UME will be necessary any more. And the universities that are charging fees for the exercise, the directive is still going to them again that they should not charge. The government has given them the directive that they should not charge. We didn't say they should not screen the children but screening can take various forms. When you now give them paper-pencil test, it means you want them to pay for the paper, pay for the pencil but if you give them oral examination, that is alright and that is what government is preaching.

However as a measurement person, I must confess that as many Rubicon as you can create for the candidates, the better so that at the end the best materials will come up but the process of establishing the Rubicon is what we are talking about. We should not use it to exploit these children. In fact, I heard that in some universities they charge as much as N5000, in some N 12,000, in some N1000 and in some they did not even charge them anything. Why should we use it to exploit our children? You see, the screening is very very cumbersome because somebody who lives in Lagos and wants to attend Federal University of Technology, Minna, has to travel from Lagos to Minna to come and sit for the examination. The risk of the road, the expenses that the person will incur to reach Minna and go back to Lagos, even to stay in Minna is not a joke to these children. The screening can be done in another way. These screenings should be done in an organized and central manner, even if they want to do screening test, a paper-pencil test, it can be organized by JAMB but of course we have to reach agreement with the universities on how we will do it

JAMB admission letter:

Immediately I resumed I was made to understand that 2004 admission letters were yet to be sent to the candidates. Of course, some problems associated with this could be traced to the universities themselves because like now, some universities are just bringing the list of candidates for 2006/2007 when the session is supposed to be over. However I gave a directive that letters of 2004, 2005 and 2006 must be finished within two weeks and I want to tell you that the letters have been written and are being crossed checked in readiness for dispatch. But the 2006 letters are not ready, I must confess because some universities have not even decided who to take, they are just bringing their lists now.


Admission through preliminary studies:

Obviously there are some preliminary students or those that may be referred to as irregular candidates in the university who go through pre-degree or remedial or what ever. These candidates, their names are usually brought to the JAMB and what we do is to insist that they take the JAMB form so that we will be able to document their qualifications. After these, we then give letters of admission to their institutions. Through this, we regularize people who have been admitted into the university through remedial. However, this year will be the last time that such cases will occur because government has directed that by 2007/2008, there should be no remedial or whatever. It won't be available again and nobody can use that means to come into the tertiary institutions again, you must all take the same examination competitively and let the best come up.

Those institutions that can use remedial to come in or use what we call pre-degree programme to come in or run such programmes have been identified and approved by the Federal Executive Council, (FEC) so any institution outside the approved list will not be recognized.

How do private universities reconcile with jamb in their admission?

Let me first of all say that the law establishing JAMB asserts that all bachelors degree programmes and Ordinary National Diploma (OND) programmes in polytechnics and colleges of education must be admitted through the JAMB, so anybody whether part time, full time, private or public, must be admitted through JAMB. But the procedures vary from one point to the other.

POLY JAMB:

It is on sale and candidates are already buying the forms; the forms are already available in the banks and offices. They are already registering, in fact it, is online registration. I can assure you they are registering already, because people still want to go to the polytechnic because they know that if they have Ordinary National Diploma OND it will result in direct admission to degree programme.

Should admission to universities be on quality or quantity?

There should be both quality and quantity. Quality in that it should not go below certain standard. Such that we are saying five credits at Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) level before you can go to the university you have to have that one in relevant courses that means the quality is still there alright. However, by quantity I mean accessibility, the Nigerian child must and should have a right education. That is why. You see these private universities are growing very fast and they are doing lot of service to this nation to reduce bottlenecks of entering into universities. So as many as you can give higher education let them take the examination and come in, even if it is the poly-JAMB.

You see, most of people don't know that there is a lot of benefits in attending polytechnic, when you finish in a typical good polytechnic you already have acquired some skills which you can use to set up on your own, not the theoretical thing you learn in the universities. This is true, polytechnic students or graduates should be ready to use their hands to do whatever they can do and they don't have to be looking for government job anymore and until people realize this , the idea of scrambling for university will continue to happen. So, let the polytechnic give skills to the children, let them learn, and use their hands to be able to do certain things for themselves and I think the issue will soon be resolved fully.

Advice on how to curb examination malpractice: Yes, the idea of using mobile phones in the examination halls will be curbed by next year. There are electronic gargets now which you will put in a place within even one or five hundred metre radius and you wont get anything, it will just be knocking it off all your communication efforts, you can not send out any information so we are trying to see how we can acquire such equipment and that will be one of the ways of curbing the use of mobile phones in the examination hall.

You remember in Lagos we caught some people with mobile phones. Their cases are still in the Sabo Police Station, Lagos. In fact, Chinwe Ogbuka who is our Chief Information Officer has been asked to come and testify, she will be going there to make statement because we reported the case and she signed for it. So she is going to go to Lagos to testify that truly this people did this because the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) is looking for more information about them, that is the culprits to enable the Police prosecute the offender.

Why do people still engage in malpractice?

It is lack of confidence in themselves, poor preparation, and the struggle, the need, you know they are really struggling to make sure that they go to university but if the spaces are so many who will cheat? The available spaces are so few for many people, therefore, everybody is struggling, it is like survival of the fittest, but if in a way the access to the universities is expanded and everyone is sure of getting in there, the malpractice thing will be a thing of the past. But examination malpractice is not restricted to JAMB, NECO, WAEC or NABTEB alone even to Nigeria, it is all over the world, I am not saying because it all over the world we should continue no, we should stop. Even in Britain, name it anywhere in the world there is still cheating. Because of the need to excel you know, they are struggling hard but if you don't prepare very well, a lot of time it leads to examination malpractice and it is nothing but lack of preparation.

Even on the part of the teacher, on the part of the authority in the school system, I always say it, if there is no crack in a wall, a lizard cannot enter the wall. If the school authority does not want examiation malpractice it will not happen, that is it. So, authorities behind examination, the school authority and examination authority should tighten up and make sure that they curb the practice.

Why is there no cancellation of results this year?

You mean the usual mass cancellation? I don't think in a hall of 540 you mean that everybody will be cheating? That is why I don't believe in a mass cancellation of results. We should be able to pin down the culprits, but of course where there is evidence that everybody in the place is involved, and it can be proved I will cancel it. This year we have only one centre I won't tell you yet where we have evidence that everybody male, female, tall, short, black, white name them, they were all involved in it that is the only centre that we got this year. However, in some other centers we were able to pin down the culprits. The reports of supervisors have identified individuals who have cheated in various centers. So, why should the innocents be made to suffer? And that is why I don't believe in mass cancellation of results.

very very interesting. i really loved that. i think you would be the end of JAMB jaming us