How to make students pass UMTE — Educationist

The major reason accounting for the failure of
candidates in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation
Examination (UTME), conducted by the Joint
Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB)
is the inability of many schools to make e-
learning a priority, thus making it extremely
difficult for candidates to manipulate computer
in the exam hall. This revelation came from
the Chief Learning Officer of Mandate Private
Schools, Akesan, Igando, Lagos, Rev. Sunday
Attah. This, according to him, arose from the
failure of many schools to anticipate the
introduction of computer- based exam in the
country. His words: “The reason our students
pass UTME excellently well every year is
because we were able, far back as 2008, to
predict the introduction of computer-based
examination in Nigeria and we immediately
made e-learning from primary school to SS3
a top priority.
At a forum in South Africa in 2008 which I
attended and was organized by the Nigeria
based Accelerated Learning Group, we did a
5- year projection on educational
development where we predicted the adoption
of computer-based examination in Nigeria
given our assessment of the situation in other
parts of the world. There and then I decided to
introduce computer–based examination in my
school which I implemented on returning to
Nigeria from South Africa .Thus, students of
Mandate Private Schools were already doing
computer-based examination even before
JAMB introduced it.
The first step we took was to transform our
SS1-SS3 classes to e- learning classrooms.
Each of the students has laptop and teachers’
notes are transferred to students’ laptops
through wireless devices. We have given
ourselves a time frame to introduce the
intensive ICT education to our primary
section, which will make pupils/students from
Primary 1 to SS3 computer literate and
internet friendly. These pupils and students
are taught by competent computer teachers in
the use of word processing, multimedia,
internet, e-mail, desktop publishing,
networking and computer aided designs.
Their familiarity with computer gives them
emotional and psychological stability in the
JAMB-conducted computer-examination.
This accounts for the high figure of about 95%
of our students who gain admissions to
various universities every year. I must quickly
add that the reason for the failure of many
students across the country in the
examination is their lack of exposure to
computer from their secondary schools.
Expectedly, such students will lose self-
confidence in the examination hall. Any
student who is jittery in the examination hall
as a result of his or her inability to operate
computer will fail woefully.’’
This claim of overwhelming success in the
UTME, says the school proprietor, is
underscored by the large number of the
school’s former students who have graduated
as well as those who are presently studying in
different universities around the world. The list
of these undergraduate students, according to
him, include Aminat Abolade who is studying
Medicine at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-
Ife; Bola Owate also studying Medicine in the
University of Lagos; Favour Attah is reading
Management Information System at Covenant
University, Ota, Ogun state, and Ashifor
Oghene who is studying International
Relations and Diplomacy at the University of
Benin.
The Chief Learning Officer continued: “We also
have Jerry Ogwo and ‘Kemi Omotade both of
whom are studying Medicine in the University
of Ukraine. Emmanuel Ichebi is reading
Electrical Engineering at the University of
Agriculture, Makurdi while David Ogwo and
Ebenezer Chiazor are studying Computer
Science and Electrical Engineering respectively
at Covenant University. On their part, Praise
Attah and Laurel Chiazor are students of
International Relations and Economics
respectively at Benson Idahosa University,
Benin City while Adnan Mojeed is reading
Aeronatic Engineering at the University of
Ilorin.