The House of Representatives Thursday summoned the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Dibu Ojerinde, over mass failure by candidates in the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The recently released result of the examination showed many students scoring below 150, out of the 400 marks based on the four papers each of the candidates sat for.
Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Aminu Suleiman (PDP Kano), said yesterday that the summons became imperative due to series of complaints and protests by a cross section of Nigerians.
Said he: “We heard that JAMB authorities had formally explained some reasons for the mass failure. This is not enough if the content of the complaints of Nigerians is anything to go by. One of the complaints was that concerning the usage of computer for the exam that most of them had never had contact with before.
According to him:“It can be recalled that the House passed a resolution asking JAMB not to use computer for the 2013 exams and they said they would make it optional; but there were still complaints by candidates that some of them filled the manual or paper option only to find themselves being asked to write the exams using computers,”.
He added that the mass failure might not be unconnected with the introduction of computers for the exams, bearing in mind that most candidates especially from Government secondary schools were not exposed to computer before.
He further said the committee had no option than to act accordingly to work towards finding a lasting solution to the perennial failures of JAMB candidates.
