The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is considering plans to test candidates on life skills and critical thinking in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to JAMB Registrar Prof. Segun Aina, the proposed changes are aimed at assessing candidates beyond their knowledge of school subjects as the board reviews how it conducts the examination for admission into universities and other higher institutions.
Newsextra24 reports that Aina disclosed this on Wednesday, October 21, during an appearance on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme.
He said a committee made up of education stakeholders and experts had been set up to recommend how the skills could be included in the UTME.
According to Aina, the committee will also consider whether life skills and critical thinking should be tested separately or included in the existing examination subjects.
The registrar also explained that a candidate’s UTME score should not be seen as a direct measure of how knowledgeable the person is but as a way of comparing the candidate’s performance with that of others who sat for the same examination.
He said the minimum entry score depended largely on the overall performance of candidates in a particular examination year.
Aina explained that if most candidates scored above 300, a score of 299 could appear low when compared with the performance of others.
“It is not how good you are that your JAMB score speaks to. It is more about how you rank against others,” he said.
He urged the public to understand how UTME scores work rather than judging candidates’ abilities based on their scores alone.
Meanwhile, Aina announced that JAMB had introduced new measures to help candidates who have difficulties updating their personal information.
He said candidates who had lost access to the phone numbers or email addresses linked to their registration could now change them by following the board’s approved procedures.
The registrar also disclosed that JAMB had introduced a National Identification Number (NIN) alignment process to help candidates correct discrepancies in their personal records.
Under the process, candidates can update their details with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) before aligning the corrected information with their JAMB profiles.
Aina said the new process would help candidates whose admission plans had been affected by problems with their names, dates of birth and other personal details.
“Before, you could not change your name or your date of birth on the JAMB profile,” he said.
He added that the restriction had left many candidates unable to move forward with their education despite completing their degrees.
“Thousands of people were stuck. They completed their degrees; they couldn’t go to university because this wasn’t possible. It is now possible,” the registrar said.
Aina advised candidates seeking more information about the new procedures and other services to visit JAMB’s official website and social media platforms.
