I was opportune to work as a supervisor in the last jamb exercise, what I witnessed necessitated these write up. As a student in the university I had on a number of occasions wrote both Jamb and GCE exams on behalf of applicants. Back then I fealth we were the In-thing. I was so good that I wrote GCE exams on behalf of female candidates in sexually segregated states. I could beat any new technology put up by Jamb or WAEC. They were like illiterates trying to beat a computer guru in the development of a software. But what I witnessed during the last jamb exercise informed me that compared to the present candidates I am a novice in the game. Before even the commencement of the exams 90% of the students had the answers, and I mean the correct answers. No longer were they using photocopying machines like in my time, now GSM is king. Answers are transferred between candidates in a number of seconds. The beauty of the system was that candidates did not just have the answers but virtually the answers to all the papers, and they text it freely to each other. Phones were hidden in such innovative places like there Bra and Pants. The only way to get at these items was to sexually molest a candidate.
The real question for me was the relevance or non relevance of jamb in these modern times. It is clear no matter the amount of technique/ styles Jamb develops they can never effectively police these crimes. This is because the crimes are aided and committed by the middle men. The higher institutions too show there absolute disregard for jamb as they keep conducting their own aptitude test in the name of ensuring the right candidates get in. But there methods belie them and show them as liars. For God sake just looking at the cut of marks for a post ume, one can clearly see the determining factor for it is available exam space not quality students. What is the meaning of 180/200 we see everywhere. Even as a very unserious student in secondary school back in the days I still had 208 with 100% my effort. The motivating factor for post jamb seems to be revenue generation since cut of points seem to be set based on available exam space. As such the argument about the universities trying to get the best does not hold water as there exams are motivated by greed and self interest. Rather we should motivate Jamb to do a better Job. These can only be done by Jamb cutting off the middle men who act as the source leakage and corruption. Therefore I propose that Jamb should adopt an online testing method. Yes! It has its own logistic problems based on the present level of technological advancement and availability in Nigeria. True cheating can take place still but it minimizes it to a minimum. True! Jamb may need to sack those workers who can no longer fit in, but that is the cost of growth. It is time jamb fights for its life because it is only a matter of time before they scrap it.
No comments:
Post a Comment