The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Thursday administered a promotional examination for 6,000 Directorate cadre staff under the Federal Civil Service Commission.
Addressing journalists during the exercise, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, noted that the examination was also being conducted for candidates in the United Kingdom, United States, India, and Egypt.
For candidates in the Federal Capital Territory, the computer-based test took place at the JAMB CBT centre in Kogo, Bwari Area Council.
“I think that it’s important to say that this is a very bold initiative on the part of the Federal Civil Service Commission, and I’m not surprised about that because of the visionary leadership. I also believe that people do not need to die before death. The apprehension you could see when people are coming in as if the computer is something that could not do it, but we have a system, a system that allows you alternative routes.
“Once you know how to use your cell phone, you’ll be able to write our examination successfully because it’s just A B C, and you don’t need to touch the mouse. This examination is taking place not only within Nigeria; it’s also taking place in four countries across the world. It’s taking place in the UK, US, India and Egypt. These are the four countries where we have deployed our personnel.
“I believe that with what the Federal Civil Service Commission is doing, people will be less apprehensive about using computers because when I came into the hall, I could see apprehension, but by the time they saw what the instruction was and so on, I asked so many of them any question, and they were just smiling.
“So, I think we should not be afraid of things that we do not know; rather, we should confront them. I want to appreciate once again the leadership of the Federal Civil Service Commission for taking this bold step.”
The Commissioner representing FCT and Niger on the Federal Civil Service Commission, Dr. Hussaini Adamu, expressed satisfaction with the candidates’ performance. He revealed that the assessment began on Wednesday, with around 1,500 participants across three sessions.
“My assessment is that we find the exercise to be an excellent one. It shows the experience of JAMB over the decades that they have been conducting this examination successfully. The candidates were earlier apprehensive, but after the commencement of the exercise, they were very happy, and they actually preferred this process compared to the last system of using pen and paper. It is a transparent system.”
Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Adetunji Olaopa, added that this was the first time the commission had adopted CBT for the promotion exam of staff, and he was impressed with the results achieved.
“It is a little progress, but significant for us in many senses. We know that computer-based tests are already popular, but at least for the Federal Civil Service Commission, this is the first time we are doing this. We are fortunate because we build our confidence on the fact that we are partnering with a sister institution like JAMB that has built up experience for decades.
“It’s clearly a little over 6,000 all over in the Directory Cadre that are involved.”
