- Safiu Kehinde
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has given reasons for the high rate of underperformance recorded at the recently concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organized by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Recall that JAMB had on Monday released a comprehensive statistical breakdown of the 2025 UTME results, showing that over 75% of its registered candidates who sat for the examination scored below 200 marks.
While this had sparked concern amongst parents, Alausa held that the result served as a testament of JAMB conducting the exam in a proper way.
The Minister made this known while speaking in an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday.
According to him, JAMB’s conduct of the examination using Computer-Based Testing (CBT) prevented the students from cheating which was a common trait in the West African Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examination Council (NECO).
Alausa, while expressing concern over the UTME results, maintained that JAMB’s adoption of CBT ensured that cheating and fraud are completely eradicated.
He announced plan to introduce the CBT into WASSCE and NECO which he said will commence operation from November.
“That’s a big concern. But it is a reflection of exams being done in proper way. JAMB conducts its exam using Computer-Based Testing (CBT).
“They put so much security in place that fraud or cheating has been completely eliminated.
“Now, we don’t have the same in our other exams like WAEC and NECO. And that’s why if you followed us at the Ministry of Education, immediately after we got in there about six months ago, we did a complete diagnostics of the way exams are conducted in the country.
“I set up a committee to look into it and we are getting the report of the committee in the next few days. But basically, what we need to do is to introduce Computer-Based Testing for both WAEC and NECO as well as NABTEB.
“Let me appeal to the nation that by November of this year, WAEC and NECO will migrate their exams to Computer-Based Testing.
“We have to use technology to fight this fraud. We have a lot of centres called miracle centres. It is not acceptable.
“What you are seeing now, people cheat through the secondary school exams, WAEC and NECO.
“Then they now go to do JAMB where they cannot cheat. And that’s a reflection of what we are seeing today.” Alausa said.
The Minister stressed further that the high rate of cheating in secondary school leaving examinations also rubbed off on the good students, thereby making them engage in the sharp practices
“It is sad and more important thing about cheating is that you disincentivise the hardworking students.
“If I were a student now and we went for exam now like WAEC and NECO and I realised that some of my other colleagues already have the questions. Do you think I will read? No. I will join them. So the ones that are good, you are going to make them bad.” He added.