JAMB to opt for computer based test for N/East candidates

The insurgency in the north east of the country may force the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to conduct Computer Base Test for candidates in the region the board Registrar Professor Dibu Ojerinde has said.

The affected states are Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

Speaking ahead of this weekend Unified Matriculation Examination ( UTME) across the country, Ojerinde said the security situation was being monitored and that in the worst case scenario, “we shall resort to CBT (Computer based test) for these candidates’’.

Statistics made available to newsmen shows that the North East states were among the 10 with the lowest enrolment for the exams.

Yobe state had 7,218 candidates and Borno; 12,905 candidates for the Paper Pencil Test (PPT). A total number of 1.6 million candidates are to take part in this year’s UTME.

According to Ojerinde the North East region has been having a declining number of candidates over time saying ‘’insecurity has not only affected education but the economy, industries and even security itself ’’.

He said, security matters are confidential and enough strategies are been adopted by the board for the smooth conduct of the exercise not only in the region but all over the country.

He said the examination will hold simultaneously in 392 towns in the country and 7 foreign centers in Accra, Ghana, Buea in Camerron, Cotonou in Benin, London in UK, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Johannesburg in South Africa and Abidjan in Cote D’Voire.