UniMaid: Mixed reactions trail the introduction of e-exam

University of Maiduguri is one of the schools in Nigeria that has introduced eExam (e-exam) a computer-based test where students are electronically examined via a computer running a standardised operating system instead of the traditional pento -paper exams.

This development was greeted with mixed reactions as Rita Zamdai Lassa, an Accounting student said she is comfortable with the e-Exams except for the stress students go through before writing.

She said “one has to queue before entering into the hall and we must wait for one department to finish before another enters.”

Another student Muhammad Bello Muhammad, of Arabic and Islamic Studies Department, said that introduction of e-exam has improved reading culture by making student read their entire books.

He however said “the only problem I faced in these e-exams is the issue of queue and the timing. I had exams by 9:00am but we didn’t enter the hall till 11:00am.”

Alkali Babakura Kolo, a Student of Agricultural and Environmental Resources Engineering, said e-exams makes it easier for lecturers to mark scripts. He however said the exams are not suitable for all courses “as an engineer you need to do some things practical”.

Jemimah Ibrahim Balami, a student of Economics department, said she didn’t have any difficulty in taking the e-exams because she is computer literate.

She also added that “What i enjoyed most is the atmosphere in which the Exams were conducted. There is a good sense of orderliness and time was maximized.”

“Watching the time ‘countdown’ and accepting the fact that there will be no room for pardon (extra time) is what I couldn’t bear,” Jemmiah proffered.

She also said instances when questions are not correctly phrased or contains errors posed challenges as “I was made to give up on such questions and move on.”

Simon T. Ape’akaa, a lecturer of Languages and Linguistics Department feels that e-exams should be restricted to some courses, because “students need to express themselves very well in literature and composition which I believe if the students are confined to e-exams, the aim is defeated.”

A lecturer of Sociology and Anthropology Department Baba Gana Kolo, PhD insistsed that e-exams do not give room for students to express themselves due to its objectives or fill-in-theblanks question nature.

Kolo said “In an objective situation somebody who don’t know anything may easily pass and in case of fill in the blanks, if the lecturer supplied answer is has a spelling error and the student provides correct spelling (or synonyms) answer that candidate will fail.”

He however stated that gravitating towards e-exams is inevitable because the world is transforming.

Dzarma Bitrus and Daniel Miti Bdliya are students of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri.