Haste to CBT

Frontline examination body, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has doubtless achieved much mileage in dealing malpractices in exams a fatal blow. This it has done with the use of technology by way of computer-based testing in its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).

The body, last weekend, formally announced the results of the 2025 UTME sat by some 1.9 million candidates between 24th April and 5th May, this year. Its Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said results of 39,834 candidates were being withheld over suspicion of infractions that were undergoing interrogation by the board. He reaffirmed JAMB’s commitment to eliminate all forms of malpractice, stating that 1,957,000 candidates were verified to sit for the exam while 71,705 were absent.

“The 2025 UTME showed a prevalence of some particular types of infractions, which suggests systemic vulnerabilities or gaps in registration and examination administration and/or monitoring,” Oloyede said inter alia. 

A particularly worrisome outcome of the matriculation exam was the mass rate of failure by candidates. JAMB reported that more than 1.5 million of the 1.9 million candidates whose results were released scored under 200 out of 400 obtainable points. UTME is graded on 400 marks, with candidates assessed in four subjects scored at 100 marks each. But the results unveiled by the examination board showed that 983,187 candidates (50.29 percent) scored between 160 and 199, and 488,197 candidates (24.97 percent) between 140 and 159. There were 57,419 candidates (2.94 percent) who scored between 120 and 139, while 24,535 scored less than 100.

High performers were, in contrast, rather few. Only 4,756 candidates (0.24 percent) scored 320 marks and above, while 7,658 candidates (0.39 percent) scored between 300 and 319. The total number of candidates who scored 300 and above stood at 12,414 (0.63 percent). A further 73,441 candidates (3.76 percent) scored between 250 and 299, while 334,560 candidates (17.11 percent) scored between 200 and 249 – the baseline range typically considered competitive for university admission.

Meanwhile, government has determined that the bodies conducting secondary school leaving certificate examinations should emulate JAMB by migrating to CBT mode not later than next year. Education Minister Tunji Alausa directed the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) to adopt full computer-based testing for all their examinations by May/June 2026 in government’s determination to rid those examinations of malpractices.

Speaking while inspecting JAMB’s CBT centres and digital control room during the matriculation examination, the minister said that by May/June 2026, both objectives and essay components of secondary school leaving examinations conducted by WAEC and NECO must be fully computer-based. “We are determined to eliminate examination malpractices by ensuring all exams, including practical and essay papers, migrate to CBT. If JAMB can successfully administer CBT exams for over 2.2 million candidates, then WAEC and NECO can also do it,” he argued.

WAEC and NECO are the bodies that conduct the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) for students completing secondary school, in which they are required to pass at least six subjects including English Language and Mathematics before being able to further their education at the tertiary level. Alausa said both bodies must begin conducting their objective papers in CBT mode from this year, and fully transition to include the essay component by May/June 2026. “By their 2026 exams that will come up in May/June, both the objectives and the essays will be fully on CBT. That is how we can eliminate exam malpractices. We want our children to study and not go ahead to have a perfect way of cheating,” he said. WAEC had already piloted computer-based testing for its private candidates in 2023, with over 8,000 candidates participating in that inaugural edition.

“SSCE by CBT: Pupils must not suffer for systemic glitches that would make the policy a race to wreck”

Following the announcement of the mass failure rate in 2025 UTME, the minister doubled down on the marching orders to WAEC and NECO. Speaking on a television programme early last week, he said the seemingly poor outcome of the JAMB examination indexed its high integrity and inability of candidates to cut corners. “It’s a reflection of exams being done the proper way. JAMB conducts its exam using a computer-based testing system. They’ve implemented strong security measures and as a result, fraud or cheating has been nearly eliminated. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for WAEC and NECO,” he argued. 

Alausa insisted that WAEC and NECO would begin migrating to CBT mode from November, this year, beginning with objective papers and fully integrate the  essay component by May/June 2026. “We have to use technology to fight fraud. There are so many ‘miracle centres’ and that is simply unacceptable. People cheat during WAEC and NECO exams and then face JAMB, where cheating is nearly impossible. That’s the disparity we’re seeing now. It’s sad,” he said. According to him, examination malpractice not only undermines merit but also discourages diligent students. “The worst part of cheating is that it disincentivises the hard-working ones. If I’m preparing for WAEC or NECO and I know my classmates already have access to the questions, do you think I’ll still study hard?  No, I’ll be tempted to join them. That’s how good students are corrupted, and that’s what we must stop,” he stated.

Asked whether the poor performance of UTME candidates could not be an indication of decline in learning standards more than anti- cheating regulation enforcement by JAMB, the minister acknowledged both factors may have been at play but stressed the systemic issue of widespread malpractice. “We’re addressing the quality of teaching and using technology, including online classes, to support learning from primary to secondary levels. But the pervasive cheating in our high school exams, especially WAEC and NECO, is the core problem. JAMB is now almost 100 percent fraud-free, but WAEC and NECO still have major lapses. Our youths are intelligent, capable, and energetic. It’s the environment that corrupts them, and we’re determined to fix that,” he said. Alausa added that extensive consultations had been held with the leaderships of WAEC, NECO, the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS). “By November, this year, WAEC and NECO will begin CBT exams. There’s no going back on that,” he said.

The minister’s beef with systemic rot that allows for examination malpractice and the imperative of redress is totally valid. Of countries that have adopted computer-based testing for secondary-level exams primarily to stop cheating and improve efficiency in the assessment process, Indonesia offers an interesting case study. Reports said cheating in national exams was so rife in that country that a mother who blew the whistle that her child’s teacher promoted cheating was accused by other parents of being a ‘disgrace’ to the school. 

Since 2015, the Indonesian government has worked at preventing cheating with the implementation of computer-based testing in grades 9 and 12 national exams – the end of junior and secondary school respectively. Researchers found that CBT not only resulted in substantially lower grades in schools that were notorious for cheating in national exams, it also curtailed cheating among schools that still administered exam on paper. Besides, after some while that CBT had been introduced and cheating was considerably curtailed, examination scores swung back on the rise, suggesting that learning outcomes improved after CBT came into use and that students had learnt less when they had the opportunity to cheat.

So, the minister was likely right about poor performance in UTME being a function of stiff anti-cheating regulation, following after corner-cutting in secondary certificate examinations. But the haste to reform the SSCE calls for caution. Unlike the UTME that is conducted in selected and equipped centres, secondary certificate exams are written by pupils in far-flung schools, some of them in remote locations yet straining for the trappings of civilisation. Meanwhile, computer-based testing is invariably dependent on infrastructure backbone like access to computer systems, network availability, reliable power supply, and requisite computer skill among examination staff everywhere. 

These are conditions to be met before WAEC and NECO can safely plunge candidates in wholesale CBT mode. Pupils must not suffer for systemic glitches that would make the policy a race to wreck.