Don’t scrap JAMB, ban post UME instead – Provost tells FG

The Provost, Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State, Dr Ajayi Iyela has reacted to calls for the scrapping of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Speaking in Okene, Iyela said: “Instead of scrapping JAMB, it is better for the examination body to continue to exist and the issue of post UME being organised by tertiary institutions in this country should be stopped because it is duplication of effort.”

“I think if there are little hitches in their operation, it should not be enough to call for the scrapping of the examination body. It is laughable when some people even advised that JAMB should revert to the use of pencil and erazer in writing JAMB test.


“This agitation will end up taking us backward while some countries even within Africa will be far ahead of us,” The Nation quoted him as saying.

Continuing, he said “The use of computer based test employed by JAMB did not only reduce cheating it has also eliminated the so called miracle centres where candidates in the past got high scores, but cannot defend it when given admission”.

The Provost attributed the “unreliable nature of JAMB scores” in the past to the analogue method, which he said was characterised by all manner of malpractices.

He added, “The analogue method of writing JAMB examination paved ways for candidates to hire people to write the test for them. But today, and with the introduction of computer based test, shoddy deals is almost gone out of the system and this is an indication that institutions of higher learning organising post UME do not have reason for it.