The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has dismissed the reports of mass failure in the 2021 United Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) nationwide.
It described such claims as a fluke and the handiwork of its detractors whose means of income had been blocked.
The examination body said the performance in the exam is not significantly different from what was obtainable in previous years.
The board, in a statement by its Head of Media and Protocol, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, Tuesday, revealed that “all Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME) questions are based on texts prescribed for the UTME in its syllabus, adding that ‘the rumour of mass failure is a fluke and a campaign by those whose source of illicit income has been further blocked.’
It said its clarification was in response to what it described as “half-truth being peddled by some disgruntled candidates, who were ill-prepared for the examination and who, true to all expectations, performed below the expectations of their guardians, that the Board had based its questions on the wrong syllabus.”
Read the statement, tagged: “UTME Has Its Right Syllabus” in full below.
“The Board ordinarily would not have reacted to the half-truth being peddled by some disgruntled candidates, who were ill-prepared for the examination and who, true to all expectations, performed below the expectations of their guardians, that the Board had based its questions on the wrong syllabus.
“The truth of the matter is that all Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) questions are based on texts prescribed for the UTME in its syllabus.
“To ensure that its syllabus is accessible to all candidates sitting its examination, the Board has made the material available on three platforms. The syllabus was issued to candidates through: i The Board’s Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS)
ii. The CD which is given to candidates after completion of registration
iii. The link https://www.ibass.jamb.gov.ng. as provided with the candidates’ profile code.
“It is not automatic that the NECO/WAEC syllabus should transform into JAMB’s otherwise there would not have been a need for a separate syllabus for the UTME.
“The UTME is not school-based and not an achievement test but a selection or ranking test which ordinarily does not require a syllabus and does not have room for fail or pass as in achievement tests.
“The rumour of mass failure is a fluke and a campaign by those whose source of illicit income has been further blocked.
“It is our belief that based on facts on the ground, every right-thinking Nigerian would question the 6,944,368 figure on which the 14% “pass” is based.
“For instance, in the 2021 UTME, 1, 415,501 registered for both UTME/DE. Out of this figure, 1,340,003 candidates registered for UTME and 75, 498 registered for DE.
“The total number of candidates who took the UTME are 1, 300,722 with 78 389 candidates absent.
“You can then imagine the spuriousness of the figure of 6, 944,368 on which 14% is based. The truth is that this year’s performance is not significantly different from those of previous years.
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