JAMB Begins Major UTME Review, Plans Life Skills, Critical Thinking Test

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced a major review of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), with plans to introduce life skills and critical thinking into the assessment of candidates seeking admission into tertiary institutions.

The proposed reform is expected to place greater emphasis on candidates’ ability to reason, analyse information and apply knowledge to real-life situations, rather than relying mainly on the recall of subject content.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating a committee of education stakeholders and experts tasked with developing a framework for integrating life skills and critical thinking into the UTME.

Aina explained that the UTME was primarily designed as a selection and ranking examination for candidates who had already obtained their O-Level qualifications.

He argued that candidates had already demonstrated their knowledge of individual secondary school subjects through examinations conducted by bodies such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).

According to him, repeating the same subject-based assessments through UTME could amount to duplication and limit the examination’s ability to determine candidates’ preparedness for tertiary education.

“So ours is a ranking task. It’s not necessarily to test your subject matter expertise. So we feel for the UTME examination to be purely subject matter is a duplicity of effort of sorts,” Aina said.

The registrar challenged the committee to examine whether the current UTME methodology remained effective in predicting candidates who were likely to succeed at universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

“Are the methods that we are employing to check and predict who will do well in the university or the polytechnic or the college of education, are they still valid? Are they good enough?” he asked.

Aina noted that the basic structure of the UTME had remained largely unchanged for more than three decades, stressing that developments in the education sector made periodic reviews necessary.

“The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement. So we want the committee to help us take a look at this,” he said.

He said JAMB deliberately brought together experts and representatives from different parts of the education sector to ensure that any proposed changes reflected broad stakeholder participation.

“We cannot be judges in our own matter. So we have assembled a team of stakeholders who are also experts in their own rights to join us in taking a look at this issue, to guide us and to make sure that any decision we take is one that is broadly acceptable to all the stakeholders who will be affected by these decisions,” Aina said.

The committee has been given an initial four-week period to examine the proposal from a conceptual perspective, although Aina said its tenure could be extended if more time was required.

“We will respond to the requests of the committee as they see fit, within reason. But they’ve been given an initial time of four weeks to look into this,” he said.

Alausa Seeks Fair and Transparent Assessment

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, represented at the event by his Technical Assistant to the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Oni Adedeji, said the proposed reform was consistent with the Federal Government’s broader efforts to improve assessment across the education system.

Alausa charged the committee with developing assessment methods that would be standardised, fair and transparent while measuring candidates’ analytical, logical and verbal reasoning abilities beyond the simple recall of subject knowledge.

The committee is also expected to determine whether life skills and critical thinking should be assessed through a separate standardised examination or integrated into the existing UTME subjects.

The minister said the ultimate objective was to develop an assessment system capable of determining not only what candidates know but also their ability to apply knowledge, reason effectively and solve problems.

“I strongly believe getting these rights will shape how Nigeria evaluates readiness for tertiary education now and in years to come,” Alausa said.

He assured the committee of the ministry’s support and cooperation throughout the review process.

Committee Promises Evidence-Based Review

The chairman of the committee, Prof. Boniface Nworgu of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said the effectiveness of the UTME should ultimately be measured by its ability to identify candidates with a strong prospect of succeeding in tertiary education.

Nworgu explained that JAMB conducts a selection examination rather than a certificate examination.

He said this means the assessment should provide reliable information about candidates’ potential to cope with the academic demands of tertiary education.

The committee is expected to examine the conceptual basis of the proposed reform and make recommendations that can guide JAMB on whether and how life skills and critical thinking should become part of the UTME.

The outcome of the review could therefore influence how millions of Nigerian candidates are assessed for admission into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the coming years.