Delayed release of exam results defeats its purpose

The Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board (JUPEB), last week released the results of the 2021 examinations in the wake of the public outcry of students, parents and guardians. While some attributed the delay to the alleged incompetence of the exam body, some alleged the existence of a grand scheme designed to create a panic amongst the concerned students. The board itself has identified some of the roadblocks it encountered which caused a delay in the release of the students’ results. In this article, I will discuss the background of the creation of JUPEB which was in response to some of the identified problems regarding the admission of students into tertiary institutions in Nigeria, as well as highlight the areas wherein more could be done to ensure that the purpose of its establishment is not defeated.

JUPEB is a national examinations body approved by the Federal Government in December 2013. It was formally established in April 2014 by a consortium of four (4) partnering universities, i.e., Afe Babalola University, the University of Lagos, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and the Federal University of Technology. In 2015, the partnering institutions became 10 with 3,806 candidates; in 2016, 21 institutions/ centers with 7,760 candidates; in 2017, 43 institutions/centers with 13,171 candidates; in 2018, 61 institutions/centers with 15,367 candidates; in 2019, 74 institutions/ centers with 23,218 candidates; in 2020, 77 institutions/centers with 21,641 candidates while the just concluded session had 104 institutions/centers with 16,503 candidates. The increasingly wide acceptance of JUPEB in its over the seven years of existence has caused the program to make landmark achievements in Nigeria as an examination body conducting advanced level examinations which qualify students for direct entry admissions. The JUPEB programme itself is an advanced level program that grants interested candidates admission in any of the JUPEB affiliated institutions without writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). This program was initiated by a consortium of partnering institutions but is headed, moderated and coordinated by the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The programme is intended for candidates aspiring to secure admission as Direct Entry (DE) candidates into Nigerian Universities. While some outrightly opt for the JUPEB programme, most candidates run the programme having failed to secure admission through UTME into their choice of university or course. Whichever category a candidate falls, he would go through the JUPEB program for the period of 8 to 10 months which make them eligible for admission into 200 level in any of the partner Universities. Others undertake the program to gain admission into foreign universities using the JUPEB certificates.

The certificate of JUPEB is therefore well recognised across the globe with candidates gaining admission into Universities in the United Kingdom, Europe, United States and even in China. The Board has successfully conducted seven examinations on yearly basis since 2014. It is on record that JUPEB examination is of high standard with high level of monitoring both during teaching and examination, and the JUPEB syllabus is tailored along basic topics that may be required in the first year and partly the second year of any undergraduate University programme. In the course of its examinations, JUPEB usually releases its results within two months after students undertake the examination.

The programme is becoming relevant as more candidates were offered admission into Universities through the program. In JUPEB, candidates are allowed to choose three courses/subjects that are relevant to their intended course of study in the University be it in Sciences, Arts or Social Sciences. The programme runs for a maximum period of one academic session (8-10months) divided into two (2) semesters. During the period, students are exposed to intensive lectures as embedded in the JUPEB syllabus from Mondays to Friday weekly. Continuous Assessment Tests are also conducted every week to prepare the candidates towards the main examination, usually in June. JUPEB operates by having affiliates universities as members who are qualified to present candidates for examination after teaching the students in their various campuses for a session. JUPEB does not register or give approval to any tutorial centre or school or non-university to be an affiliate or as a centre for teaching and registering of students for JUPEB examination and therefore, all tutorial centres across the streets and towns of Nigeria are fake JUPEB Centres. It is to be recognised that many students have used the JUPEB certificate to advance their studies and it is gladdening to note that some students who entered universities using JUPEB results have completed their first degrees and are already in the labour market. Since its establishment, JUPEB has strived to maintain a good standard and ensure that the sanctity of the examination is maintained, and results from JUPEB is comparable with any standard A-level result across the world.

The Board adopted a point grading system by which scoring an ‘A’, being 70-100 per cent attracts 5 points; 60-69 per cent is graded B which attracts 4 points; 50-59 per cent is graded C which attracts 3 points; 45-49 per cent is graded D which attracts 2 points; 40 44 per cent is graded E which attracts 1 point, while 39 per cent and below is graded F with 0 points. As a pioneer affiliated University, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) has admitted over 500 JUPEB candidates into different programmes across her five Colleges i.e., the College of Law, College of Sciences, College of Social and Management Sciences, College of Engineering and College of Medicine and Health Sciences. It must be noted that apart from accepting JUPEB results for admission in ABUAD, the institution also accepts other ‘A’ level results like Cambridge, IJMB, NABTEB, GCE and other recognised foreign A’ level results.

Over the years, JUPEB candidates have been a source through which ABUAD admits students apart from UTME candidates. In ABUAD Direct Entry Admission yearly, JUPEB candidates recorded 90 per cent of the overall admission with few candidates using other ‘A’ level results. This shows the level of acceptance of JUPEB examination by both parents and students. JUPEB is fast growing and if well managed, it will become the most subscribed A’ level programme in Nigeria.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the recent unprecedented incidence of the late computation and release of results by the Board is one which, if left unchecked, will occasion a lack of trust and faith in the Board.

One of students affected by the delay in the release of the 2021 equated his experience to having been left stranded, particularly owing to the fact that Universities have commenced the admission process. He reportedly stated that “We the JUPEB candidates nationwide have been left stranded due to the incompetence of the exam board. For over four months the results have not been released and we believe without a voice, we won’t be heard and we want to go to school. Please look into this and be our voice.” Another student reportedly said: “What I know is that they’ve been giving different dates for months for the release of the list and now we learnt that it will be released on 10th February 2022. That’s what we are waiting for. Almost all the schools have already started giving admission to students. I hope they don’t delay till schools are done releasing admission lists.”

The concerns of the students are indeed legitimate: after all, it is not too much to ask for the prompt release of the examinations written for the purpose of securing an admission into the higher institution of learning. In fact, the purpose of undertaking the JUPEB programme would be defeated if students are not able to use the results for the applicable admission year. Certainly, a repeat of the delayed release in the results should not happen, regardless of whatever might have caused it. On its part, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) promptly released its 2021 results despite being written across five-member countries, i.e., The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, using the same International Timetable, and despite serious security challenges in the South East (IPOB and ESN sit-at-home order), banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and COVID. Therefore, to maintain credibility and relevance with the board has worked hard for over the years, there must be no re-occurrence of a delay in the release of students’ results.

I am convinced that if the pace of excellence which the Board is associate with is properly maintained in the incoming years, the JUPEB programme will topple the old standard to be a more-accepted mode of entry of students into tertiary institutions.

AARE AFE BABALOLA, OFR, CON, SAN ,LLD. D.Litt.