THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has added Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, wrist watches and erasers to the list of items banned from the examination centres during the forthcoming Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. The Board has also insisted that only candidates who are successful in biometric verification would be allowed into the examination halls to sit for the examination. Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, made this known on Monday in Abuja at the stakeholders meeting ahead of the commencement of the Computer Based Test (CBT) nationwide on 11th April 2019.

Oloyede, who revealed that about 566,283 out of the 1.6 million candidates that registered for UTME in 2018, have so far been admitted into various institutions across the country, blamed the delay on 2018 admission processes on strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP). He said the Board has introduced various innovations to curb the incidence of examination malpractice as well as ensure the integrity of the examination. He said: “To ensure that our examinations meet best global practices, the board has prohibited the use of the following items during its examinations.“These are; Watches, pens or biros, mobile phones or similar electronic devices, spy reading glasses, calculators, hard disks or similar storage devices, books or any reading material, cameras, recorders and microphones.“Others are ear pieces, ink or pen readers, smart lenses, smart rings or jewellery, smart buttons, Bluetooth devices, key holders, erasers and ATM cards,” he said.

He said the Board would continue to strive to eliminate unwholesome practices during its examinations, which necessitated the biometric verification of candidates to curb impersonation as well as the introduction of Closed-Circuit Television cameras to its centres nationwide. He said: “The search for a reliable assessment model after the traumatic experiences with Paper and Pencil Test hitherto used by the board led to the adoption of the Computer-Based Test.“ The paper format was jettisoned because it was characterised by different forms of examination malpractices.“We believe that by offering highly competitive method electronically at approved testing centres, candidates and other stakeholders would continue to benefit from increased access and flexibility for immediate grading among other benefits. “The CBT being administered by the board is a dynamic and individualised assessment tool designed in line with global best practices,” he said.

Oloyede insisted that biometric verification would be the only mode for the admittance of candidates into the examination centres. He said: “Exemption mode is not allowed for any candidate. Therefore, no biometric verification, no examination,” said, warning the examination officials that no one should exercise any discretion in that respect. He added that directives have been handed to officials that once a candidate’s name could not be verified within a very short time, such candidate should be referred to JAMB headquarters Abuja, where such candidates would be allowed to sit for the examination after thorough scrutiny. On Post-UTME conducted by universities, Oloyede said he was not against it provided candidates were not extorted, saying based on the improvement being made in the conduct of UTME over time, the institutions on their own would realise that there was no need to additional test before admitting students.