By NEWSCOUNT Desk
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has set up a committee to review the structure and content of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with particular attention to the inclusion of life skills, critical thinking and other competencies.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this in Abuja while inaugurating the committee, explaining that the review became necessary because of changes in Nigeria’s education system and the demands now placed on students entering tertiary institutions.
Aina said candidates already take subject-based examinations at the secondary school level through the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), raising the question of whether the UTME should continue to test the same areas in substantially the same manner.
He said JAMB’s main responsibility was to rank candidates seeking admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, adding that the examination should therefore provide institutions with useful information on candidates’ readiness for tertiary education.
According to him, the proposed review will examine how the examination can test candidates’ ability to reason, apply knowledge, solve problems and respond to situations beyond the mere recall of information.
Aina said the basic structure of the UTME had remained largely unchanged for more than 30 years and that the time had come to examine whether it still met the needs of the present education system.
He said the committee was deliberately drawn from different areas of the education sector so that the review would benefit from contributions from examination bodies, universities, professional institutions, teachers, students and other stakeholders.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, represented at the event by his Technical Assistant to the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Oni Adedeji, said the review was part of efforts to improve assessment practices in the country’s education system.
Alausa asked the committee to examine ways of making the assessment fair, transparent and capable of testing analytical, logical and verbal reasoning.
He said the committee would also determine whether life skills and critical thinking should be introduced as separate areas of assessment or incorporated into the existing UTME subjects.
Chairman of the committee, Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said the review should focus on the ability of UTME to identify candidates who have the capacity to cope with the demands of tertiary education.
Nworgu noted that JAMB conducts a selection examination and not a certificate examination, stressing that its assessment should therefore provide reliable information about the academic potential of candidates.
He said the examination needed periodic review because the curriculum and skills expected of students had changed over the years.
Nworgu also referred to the shift from the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards to the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards, which places greater attention on skills, application of knowledge and critical thinking.
He said the committee would examine the proposal on its merits and could make recommendations beyond life skills and critical thinking if its deliberations showed that other changes were necessary to improve the examination.
The committee comprises representatives of universities, examination bodies, professional regulatory councils, secondary schools, students’ organisations and development agencies.
Members include representatives of Bayero University, WAEC, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, the National Board for Technical Education, the Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, the United Nations Development Programme, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, the National Commission for Colleges of Education and the National Universities Commission.
Representatives of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board, Nigerian Union of Teachers, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, National Association of Nigerian Students, Council of Legal Education, National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies and other relevant bodies are also members of the committee.
The committee has been given four weeks to submit its initial recommendations to JAMB, although the period may be extended if additional time is required.
JAMB will consider the committee’s recommendations before deciding on the next steps towards any possible changes to the UTME.
