From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has justified its decision to introduce new measures to strengthen its systems ahead of the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The board said that it recorded tremendous success in the 2017 UTME exercise, but not without challenges and lapses, hence the new measures that will consolidate on the successes and strengthen its credibility and increase public confidence in the system.
JAMB registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, told stakeholders involved in the conduct of the March 9 to 17 exam in Abuja, that most of the good features of the 2017 UTME were retained and in most cases enhanced for improved outcomes.
“But in addition to that, some new elements were replaced with superior ideas and innovations to address the some identified realties,” he said.
The changes, according to him, focused on areas of profile creation using candidate’s unique phone number, and creation of more payment platforms and outlets for easy access to candidates, among other reforms and innovations.
He highlighted the decision that scanned pictures of candidates would no longer be accepted for registration, insisting on live capture at the accredited computer-based test (CBT) centres as part of the registration procedure.
“Furthermore, candidates’ pictures will
be embossed on all candidates’ documents generated by JAMB henceforth,” he added.
In response to the challenge of smart cheating, the board said it has secured the support of stakeholders on measures that would address various devices that aid exam malpractices.