The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has begun moves to overhaul the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with plans to introduce life skills and critical thinking into the assessment of candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions.
The reform initiative which could change the way candidates are assessed for admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, would examine whether the current UTME remains an effective predictor of students’ ability to succeed at the tertiary level.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina.disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while inaugurating a committee of education stakeholders and experts charged with examining how the proposed changes could be incorporated into the examination.
Aina said the review had become necessary because candidates already undergo subject-based assessment in their O-Level examinations conducted by bodies such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
According to him, JAMB’s primary responsibility was to rank candidates for admission rather than duplicate the subject certification role of other examination bodies.
He said: “So ours is a ranking task. It’s not necessarily to test your subject matter expertise. So we feel for the UTME examination to be purely subject matter is a duplicity of effort of sorts.”
According to him, the proposed review would determine whether the skills required to function effectively in real-life situations should form part of the criteria used in selecting candidates for tertiary education.
He questioned whether the existing UTME methodology, which has remained substantially unchanged for decades, was still capable of accurately predicting students’ performance after admission.
“Are the methods that we are employing to check and predict who will do well in the university or the polytechnic or the college of education, are they still valid? Are they good enough?”
Aina said the board was prepared to subject its examination system to scrutiny in the interest of improving the quality of tertiary admissions.
“The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement. So we want the committee to help us take a look at this.”
The registrar explained that JAMB deliberately brought together representatives from different parts of the education sector because the board could not independently determine the suitability of reforms that would affect millions of candidates and institutions.
“We cannot be judges in our own matter. So we have assembled a team of stakeholders who are also experts in their own rights to join us in taking a look at this issue, to guide us and to make sure that any decision we take is one that is broadly acceptable to all the stakeholders who will be affected by these decisions.”
The committee has been given an initial four-week period to examine the proposal from a conceptual standpoint.
On the timeframe, Aina said, “we will respond to the requests of the committee as they see fit, within reason. But they’ve been given an initial time of four weeks to look into this.”
Representing the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, at the event, Technical Assistant to the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Oni Adedeji, said the initiative was part of ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to reform assessment across the education system.
He tasked the committee with developing assessment modalities that would be standardised, fair and transparent, while going beyond the ability to recall subject content.
According to the minister, the proposed review must establish how analytical, logical and verbal reasoning could be properly assessed and whether the new components should constitute a separate standardised examination or be incorporated into existing UTME subjects.
Alausa said the objective was to move towards an assessment system capable of determining not just what candidates know, but their ability to apply knowledge, reason and solve problems.
“I strongly believe getting these rights will shape how Nigeria evaluates readiness for tertiary education now and in years to come.”
The chairman of the committee, Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said the central issue before the panel was how effectively UTME identifies candidates with the potential to succeed in tertiary education.
Nworgu said JAMB’s examination was fundamentally a selection exercise and should therefore provide reliable evidence on candidates’ prospects of performing well academically after admission.
“What JAMB is expected to do and what it is doing is to look at those measures that can help us to select the candidates that have the highest promise of succeeding in academic tasks at the tertiary education level,” he said.
Nworgu noted that the changing demands of tertiary education had also made it necessary to periodically examine the validity of the UTME.
He pointed to the transition from the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) to the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS), saying the latter places greater emphasis on skills and critical thinking.
“The focus now is the area of skills and then critical thinking. So, what Jan is trying to do is understandable from that perspective,” Nworgu said.
He added that the committee would remain open to recommendations beyond the two areas specified in its mandate if its investigation showed that other measures could improve UTME’s predictive validity.
“If in the course of our deliberations, we find out that there are other measures that can improve the predictive validity of the UTMB, we’re certainly going to make appropriate recommendations.”
Nworgu also said the committee would demand evidence before recommending changes, stressing the importance of establishing a basis for measuring whether any modified UTME delivers better outcomes.
“We are not going to make that mistake in this cas. If we have been using UTME for this number of years and we want to produce a modified UTME, so to speak, there must be evidence at the end of the day that this effort was on time, that we did not waste the taxpayers’ money doing what is beneficial to the society.”
The committee comprises representatives of universities, examination bodies, professional regulatory councils, secondary schools, students’ organisations and development agencies.
Members include Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as chairman; Prof. M. Yakasai of Bayero University, Kano; Afolabi S. Imoukhuedе; Prof. Idris Mohammed of the Medical and Dental Council; Zakariyau Abdullahi of WAEC; Engr. Prof. Aaron Aboshio of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria; Dr. Murtala Aliyu Sakwa of the National Board for Technical Education; Prof. Duke Okoro of the Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in Nigeria; and Jiya Umar Mohammed of the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools.
Others are Dr. Chima Egbujuo of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council; Dr. Emmanuel Udontre of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria; Salawudeen Kamorudeen Opeyemi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students’ Engagement; Catherine-Onyejeche Ibrahim of the United Nations Development Programme; Dr. Fadipe E. Oladotun of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria; Dr. Alimigbe Frances of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria; Lawrence B. Aremu of the National Commission for Colleges of Education; and Edidiong Lawrence Moses of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigeria.
The committee also includes Prof. Raymond Emmanuel of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board; Dr. Clinton of the Nigerian Union of Teachers; Dr. Anthony Idoko of the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria; Akinteye Babatunde Afeez of the National Association of Nigerian Students; Dr. Esa Onoja of the Council of Legal Education; Dr. Esther Mmekа of the National Universities Commission; Dr. Yusuf Abbas Raji of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies; Prof. Babawale T. Bello of the University of Lagos; and Arc. Kayode of the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria.
The committee is expected to submit its initial recommendations within four weeks. JAMB would thereafter determine the next phase of the exercise including possible engagement with assessment experts to develop the technical details of any framework eventually adopted.