The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, on Wednesday, charged institutions, government and stakeholders to show increased commitment in the fight against examination infractions by candidates.
Oloyede, who lamented that JAMB was investing a large chunk of its resources in the fight against examination malpractices, said collaborative effort was needed “because of the threat posed not only to the educational system, but also to national development”.
The registrar, represented by the Director, Quality Assurance at JAMB Headquarters, Mrs Mabel Agbebaku, spoke in Ado Ekiti, in a lecture titled, ‘Value re-orientation for effective service delivery: JAMB perspective,’ which he delivered at the 10th yearly lecture of the Forum of Heads of Federal Government Establishment in Nigeria, Ekiti State Chapter.
He said, “The movement against examination malpractice should be sustained so that the task of national rebirth would be attained sooner than expected as the Board would continue to entrench transparency and integrity in the administration of its examinations”.
Oloyede blamed widespread report of cheating on “undue emphasis placed on paper qualifications and desperation for professional courses such as Medicine, Law, Accountancy” among others, stressing that JAMB would guard jealously the integrity of its examination.
He said, “JAMB has continued to war against examination malpractices, but some unscrupulous elements in society are still trying to constitute a clog in the wheel of progress of the board.
“The desperation of some parents and individuals who aid and abet examination malpractices and are ready to cough up huge sums of money to execute their unwholesome agenda also constitute a challenge which the board is tackling headlong.”
He listed innovations by JAMB under him to checkmate admission irregularities and protect the interest of innocent candidates who deserved admission to include the Computer Based Test, digitalisation of the process through automated Central Admission Processing System and the move to checkmate impersonation with use of National Identification Number.
The chairman of the Forum in Ekiti State, Mr James Famurewa, said the yearly event was “a veritable and strategic platform where all federal civil servants in Ekiti State can benefit immensely from the intellectual capacity and wealth of experience of eminent scholars, renowned civil servants, top functionaries, technocrats and the critical stakeholders.”
