BY TONY OKAFOR
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s recent admission of errors in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination is an honour to the exam body.
This acknowledgment, though belated, demonstrates a commitment to transparency and accountability.
Unlike some other agencies that would stonewall or advise affected parties to go to court, JAMB has taken responsibility for its mistakes.
This proactive approach is commendable, especially considering the immense pressure and stress that candidates and their parents have endured.
The decision to allow candidates from the affected states to retake the examination is a step in the right direction.
However, this incident should serve as a wake-up call for JAMB to be more circumspect in the future.
Labelling states like Anambra and Lagos as hotbeds of examination malpractices without concrete evidence was unfair and damaging to their reputation.
Given JAMB’s admission of culpability, it is clear that the board should exercise caution and ensure thorough investigations and substantiated evidence before making public pronouncements.
The economic and psychological trauma inflicted on parents and candidates due to the errors and the repeat examination cannot be overstated.
Many families will bear the extra burden of preparing their children for a re-examination, which could have been avoided with more robust quality control measures.
To prevent such incidents, JAMB should implement measures such as instant score display to identify errors promptly, conduct regular audits and checks to ensure accuracy and fairness, and thoroughly investigate allegations of malpractices, making findings public in a fair and transparent manner.
By taking these steps, JAMB can restore confidence in the examination process and ensure the UTME remains a credible assessment tool for tertiary institution admissions in Nigeria.
