JAMB to conduct computer based Test (CBT) from march 2015

 Controversy is raging over this year's Joint Admissions Matriculation Board Examination (JAMB) as eligible candidates across the country feared that the only approved mode of exams, the computer based test (CBT), is capable of disenfranchising them because of its technical challenges.

The CBT exam was earlier scheduled to start nationwide yesterday but could not hold due to some problems ranging from collapse of internet servers, logistics, congestion at the exams centres, extortion, among others, Daily Trust gathered.
This development forced JAMB to shift the exam to March 9. But candidates are still facing challenges in meeting the laid down procedures that are mostly electronic, fueling their fears of disenfranchisement.
 "By JAMB's directives, all candidates have to register, after buying an application scratch-card for 6000 (six thousand naira) at a state JAMB office and or/ CBT center in the state. As it is, for most states in the country all or nearly all such centers are to be found only in state capitals."
The stakeholders have argued that the claim by JAMB that the CBT "has the advantage of issuing/releasing results at the end of each test, thereby reducing anxiety associated with waiting....and those ....e-Testing guides (sic) against exam malpractice which leads to the cancellation of candidate's results" is not only disturbing but also misleading.
They explained JAMB conducts a selection exam, which means that it is not a pass or fail exam. "Thus for equity and fairness (as well as other professional considerations which are not necessary to get into here) the raw scores of all candidates who have sat for the selection exam of any particular year, are collated, analyzed and after taking into account all factors of overall performance, malpractice reports etc., a worked normalization percentage is agreed upon and applied overall. No one candidate is given advantage over others or disadvantaged," they said.
A source in JAMB said the situation was greeted with problems as soon as it started because majority of the board offices across the country couldn't download the question papers into their local servers.
The source said it was better if the CBT was allowed to go concurrently with the PPT option for another two to three years, until proper infrastructure for the CBT is put in place.
The source added that with the current problem all over the country, it was clear that unless the other options are allowed, majority of the prospective candidates would not write the test.

In his response, JAMB spokesperson Mr Fabian Benjamin denied that candidates spent up to one month before printing their e-slips.