Not long ago, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the 2021/2022 examination results which threw many into bewilderment after it was announced that only 14 per cent of the overall candidates passed the exam.
JAMB itself confirmed that the performance of candidates in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is poorer than what it recorded within the past three years or thereabouts.
The board also noted that given the current statistics, when the data of candidates who scored 120 marks and above out of the possible 400 in 2021 is compared to what was obtained in 2020, there is a difference of 0.25 per cent. But it is worse when 2018 and 2019 performances are taken into compare.
Generally, the percentage of failure since the examination has been digitalised is quite larger compared to when it was hand written. Following this, lots of students have blamed the board for their failure. However, the board on the other hand, blames the students, adding that they set question based on the curriculum which is made available to students and teachers for them to cover.
Aside having many unserious students who have nonchalant attitude towards their academics, we also have some of the committed and intelligent students out there who wouldn’t forfeit their academics for anything. I believe the big fall is not just limited to student being unserious amongst other reasons which have been cited by many.
I would like to take our minds back to the actual situation of the educational system in Nigeria; the lack of basic academic facilities and resources especially in our government primary and secondary schools. Now that JAMB Examination is a Computer Based Test, we should ask, how many of our secondary schools have a well-equipped, functioning computer laboratory for their students. Very few! Students are not exposed to computer operation. This is why we still have many secondary school students and some undergraduates especially in government schools finding it hard to power a computer.
Though a lot of these students studied computer in both primary and secondary classes, they could only hear what the computer system can do and see how it looks in their text books. There is hardly a provision for the facilities for practical demonstration and experience and operasting one is alien to them.
For this, many students are faced with technophobe, operating a computer system is quite different from operating our mobile phones. The interface with our Android’s is different when using a computer.
I could remember vividly that when I was preparing for my JAMB, in 2017/2018. I did computer science from my primary to Senior Secondary School 2. Still, I didn’t know how to power a computer. Partly because we lacked a computer laboratory in our school and my father couldn’t afford one for us either.
I wasn’t scared about the exam but how I would operate a computer. Each time I complain, my mother would try to convince me that when I get there, I would see people to put me through. However, I wasn’t satisfied. I enrolled in a computer institute and did a three-day computer training on basic computer skills. But what about students that cannot afford a computer school for extra training?
The point is that there are a lot of intelligent students who failed not because they don’t know the answers but for the fact that they were not adequately empowered in school, they lost their confidence sitting in front of a computer.
More than ever, our schools need serious rehabilitation because the whole world is moving digitally and lack of computer skills is a huge deficiency in the digital world. As a matter of urgency, government must wade in, practical computer classes should be effective and made compulsory for all students, those who are not privileged to have one at home, should have access to it in their various schools.
Fatimat Ibrahim Abedoh, Lagos.
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