JAMB plans to add critical thinking, life skills to UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is considering introducing life skills and critical thinking into the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to assess candidates beyond their knowledge of academic subjects.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this on Wednesday during the Good Morning Nigeria programme on the Nigerian Television Authority, saying a committee of education stakeholders and experts had been set up to develop recommendations for the proposed reforms.

The committee is expected to determine how the competencies would be assessed and whether they should be introduced as separate components or integrated into existing UTME subjects.

Aina said the proposed changes were part of efforts to make the examination more relevant to the demands of higher education.

He also clarified that UTME scores should not be viewed as an absolute measure of a candidate’s knowledge, but as a means of ranking candidates within a particular examination cohort.

“It is not how good you are that your JAMB score speaks to. It is more about how you rank against others,” he said.

According to him, the minimum entry score depends partly on the overall performance of candidates in a given examination cycle.

“If you are in a cohort of JAMB candidates where everybody scores above 300, then 299 will suddenly start to look like a very low score. So, we must put this thing in proper perspective,” Aina said.

The registrar also announced changes aimed at helping candidates resolve problems with their personal information on JAMB profiles.

He said candidates who had lost access to their registered telephone numbers or email addresses could now update them through the board’s procedures.

Aina further disclosed that JAMB had introduced a National Identification Number alignment process to help candidates correct discrepancies in their records.

Under the process, candidates can update their details with the National Identity Management Commission before aligning the information with their JAMB profiles.

“Before, you could not change your name or your date of birth on the JAMB profile,” he said.

He added that the changes would help candidates whose admission plans had been affected by inconsistencies in their personal records.

“Thousands of people were stuck. They completed their degrees; they couldn’t go to university because this wasn’t possible. It is now possible,” he said.

Aina urged candidates to consult JAMB’s official website and social media platforms for details of the new procedures and other services.