As students look forward to sitting the 2013 entry examinations into tertiary institutions, the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to adopt the computer-based test for the conduct of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination is, no doubt, laudable; but a few more things should be put in place to ensure effective service delivery.

While some people argue that the nation is not ripe for the initiative due chiefly to the dearth of infrastructure, epileptic power supply and low ICT literacy level, others reason that the idea should be embraced.

Protagonists believe that the adoption of CBT for UTME will eliminate the challenges associated with the existing system.

In the United States where computer-based test is widely used, it is also known as the “next frontier in testing,” in which educators, testing companies and state departments find it useful in the process of transforming paper/pencil tests into technology-based formats. These efforts have enabled educators to transfer all of their classroom quizzes and tests into a computer-based format.

Its merits include increased accessibility to many exam sessions within a year, the use of technology that candidates are familiar with, attractive and user-friendly interface, online timer on the display screens, ease of answering questions on the screen, use of headphones to ensure high quality of sound, among others.

CBT also enhances fair and precise evaluation of a candidate’s competency, rapid turnaround of results, and more choices as to when and where to take the exam, easier registration and fortified examination security.

When eventually adopted, the e-testing seeks to ensure, as much as possible, 100 per cent elimination of all forms of examination malpractices that had been the major challenge in the conduct of public examinations. This testing method has been described by many policymakers as a way of meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, said it would help candidates to migrate from the use of paper and pencil in examinations to full use of computers and would guarantee faster release of results within 30 minutes after taking the examination.

In implementing the new policy, the Board intends to construct five testing centres with 150 terminals in five states in 2013, on a transitional scale, which is capable of accommodating between 150,000 and 250,000 candidates under the first trial. Here, students will have the option of using either the paper-pencil or the e-testing option or both, for all JAMB-related examinations. Other options available to candidates, apart from the CBT, are Paper and Pencil Testing; and the other option in which questions would be presented on computers and answers would be on paper. By 2015, CBT will become the only option.

Ojerinde said the recent pilot test carried out with 600 students in Abuja was a testimony to the viability of the e-testing, in line with global best practices for such electronic-based examinations.

But before JAMB begins implementation, there are few points to ponder. First, there has not been any evidence that the required infrastructure has been put in place. This is further fuelled by the untold experience suffered by students in the hands of universities that adopted similar method for admission exercise in 2012.

It is saddening that most of the candidates registering for the 2013 examination were spillover and casualties of the 2012 exercise who may be the guinea pigs of the newly introduced method, as some of the computers assembled by affected institutions were old, erratic and malfunctional.

Again, furniture must be adequate. In some examination centres, candidates still had to grapple with insufficient tables and chairs. Invariably, this scenario is capable of causing psychological depression to any serious-minded student and one is certainly sure of the outcome of the performance of a troubled candidate.

There is no known statistics to indicate that many students in public schools are now com puter literate to sit for the examination, as the cost of computer is still not affordable to the average Nigerian. The reality of providing computers for about two million candidates in a country that is still battling to provide basic food for its people is worrisome.

To permanently get the young ones to get used to the use of computers, governments should make computer studies compulsory in schools to boost the literacy level that will, in turn, facilitate the use of online UTME that is being canvassed.

Another issue that is, perhaps, critical to the project is the availability of constant electricity. This is necessary both at the trial stage and beyond. It is worrisome that there has not been any remarkable improvement in the nation’s power supply. In this kind of programme in which we are talking of millions of students, the use of alternative source of electricity like generators can never go far.

JAMB should also ensure that the necessary security checks are put in place. This is to guarantee that database is not compromised, contrary to the general assumption that CBT will completely eradicate examination malpractices.

Another factor that should be seriously considered is in meeting the peculiar needs of the physically-challenged and students with disabilities. These special people could be at a great disadvantage if certain things are not add ressed. It may be difficult for them to manipulate computers like their able-bodied colleagues; hence, special provisions must be made to accommodate them.

Again, JAMB should take seriously the recommendation of The Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences, which recommends that examination questions prepared for CBT should be error-free, while the allocated time should also be adequate.

The import of this observation is because the existing programming put in place for CBT operations make maneuvering strictly in line with the installed protocol. Hence, once an error has been imputed, the operator also becomes susceptible to more operational mistakes. Unlike the manual mode of answering questions, a more reasonable time should be given to the students.

JAMB should also embark on massive training, enlightenment and awareness strategies to get candidates and relevant stakeholders to be familiar with the complex CBT operations and clear the grey areas. For now, the stakeholders, most especially the students, appear not to be really informed on what they stand to benefit from the innovation.

•Kupoluyi wrote from the Fed. Univ. of Agriculture, Abeokuta, vide, adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk