by Raheem Oluwafunminiyi
THE recent release of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)
result few weeks back by the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) continues to elicit both negate and positive debates among students and stakeholders. In fact, this year’s UTME has become starkly controversial than any other period in its history, simply because of the intricacies that surrounded the exam from start to finish. Many had expected positive impact or outcome from the exercise but alas, the exercise appeared as one in futility, if the results and statistics coming from the exam body are anything to go by.
According to JAMB, the numbers of prospective candidates who bought forms and sat for the exam totalled 1, 644, 110. Out of the 1, 644, 110 candidates, 1, 629, 102 applied to sit for the Paper Pencil Test (PPT), while just a paltry sum of 15, 008 decided to go for the Dual Based Test (DBT). With this staggering number unprecedented in the history of the exam body, one would have thought quite a handful would easily have passed or made at least a good grade to proceed for their post-tertiary exams in their chosen university. Reverse was, however, the case. Of this huge number, according to JAMB Registrar, Prof Dibu Ojerinde, during a press briefing in Abuja, only 10 out of the 1, 644, 110 candidates who sat for the examination scored 300 and above, with 628 other candidates scoring between 270 and 299. Furthermore, a total of 12,110 candidates’ results
were being withheld for examination malpractices, while the results of another 68,309 candidates from various centres were undergoing further screening to ascertain their capability. A total of 40,692 candidates’ results were invalid ‘‘due to multiple shading or no shading at all’’, while 47, 974 candidates remained absent.
With these appalling and shocking results, there is no denying the fact that something fundamental is wrong with the Nigerian education system. Since the results were released, accusations and counter-accusations from JAMB, parents and students on the conduct of the exam have been flying around. Just like the year before, this year’s UTME was fraught with series of anomalies and problems. Cases where candidates could not find their names on examination day, wrong combination of subjects assigned to candidates or even the failure of the so called Biometric System as a result of laptops running out of battery power, became rampant all over the country. As if that was not enough, the high level of cheating unprecedented in the history of the UTME reared its ugly head with parents, students, teachers, invigilators, mercenaries, security personnel and JAMB officials, all colluding to give candidates a filled day.
Prof. Dibu Ojerinde was unequivocal when in a T.V interview said candidates entered Paper Type as A, B, C, D when the types were composed of D, I, B, U, attributing the fake paper type to plans by some of the students to cheat and beat the system. He also claimed that students were no longer serious about their studies and accused most of them of failing to read the two novels recommended by JAMB from which questions were set in a particular subject. He went further to absolve JAMB of any misconduct; expressing confidence in the board’s marking process, even as parents and candidates continue to fret at the shocking and heart-breaking scores.
What bothers this writer is how long this educational malfeasance will continue at a time when viable education in saner climes is evolving dramatically by the day. Is it that many Nigerians are not ready to embrace the innovative skills JAMB have put in place for a good conduct of its yearly exam or JAMB itself does not understand the psyche of the average candidates to whom they are setting exams for? What exactly is wrong with the system that things continues to get worse yearly without a long term solution? Are we that unintelligent as to understand where we are getting it wrong, or how come it is always a clash of two titans—JAMB and prospective candidates—with neither admitting fault? For how long would we continue to lament and watch this fragile sector as education go down the gutters of malfunction?
This writer is of the belief that what is happening to candidates in the aftermath of the UTME yearly is a result of contemporary systemic failure where education, right from the home to both the primary and secondary schools, have failed to raise a critically conscious generation with moral values. At the end, we breed children who are only interested in having quick success without hard work. For the simple fact that many of these candidates have not had the pre-requisite upbringing from childhood which is a tool for success after hard work, desperation sets in. many wishes to pass at all cost and in a bid to do that engage in so many acts inimical and detrimental to himself and the society.
This writer believes that for as long as we neglect these simple values, we should expect the worst in the following years. Since those who are meant to regulate the educational system have failed to do their jobs efficiently, that very stage of child upbringing suddenly develops series of flaws. When we look around us, hundreds of mushroom schools spring up every day with little or no regulations to guide their activities. Even the ones which are government owned lack infrastructural facilities to assist the students in his educational development. A student who have not seen chemical elements like acid and ammonia or have not been taught how to dissect common rabbit in his biology class or do not have in his Agric laboratory common seeds like cotton seed, cowpea etc., eventually have nothing to offer during school, state or national exams.
Our schools are replete with stagnant, weary and redundant teachers who have no iota of passion in them for teaching. Most of them are dropouts, lack teaching skills and even teach nonsense. It is these set of students, having been taught by these drop-outs, who eventually, in a bid to be part of the few available spaces available in the tertiary institutions and who have nothing in their heads, resort to desperate measures to pass. At the end, when the results emerge, they blame the system, even as the system is heavily to be blamed.
It is until we go back to entrench and instil moral value in our education system, things will surely continue to get worse. Since it is a reality this year that not even 300, 000 will be admitted to study their course of choice owing to the abysmal results, all stakeholders, most especially the government must begin a process of re-organisation, re-orientation and re-awakening to ensure that this appalling failure does not repeat itself. If we think this problem is one of those usual ones to shove aside, then we must be ready to bear the consequences, a situation which will be dire.
If the National Youth Service Corp, NYSC had once discovered two of its prospective corps members could not write their names, soonest, we shall have Doctors prescribing pain killers for rashes. It is gradually happening in our midst, therefore, we must not wait else, a time bomb should explode right before our faces.
Raheem Oluwafunminiyi is a social commentator and could be reached via creativitysells@gmail.com