The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board is considering the inclusion of life skills and critical thinking in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination as part of efforts to broaden the assessment of candidates seeking admission into higher institutions.
The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this during an appearance on the Nigerian Television Authority’s Good Morning Nigeria programme on Wednesday.
Aina said the proposed reform was intended to assess candidates’ abilities beyond their knowledge of conventional academic subjects.
He explained that UTME scores primarily determine candidates’ positions relative to other candidates rather than serving as an absolute measure of their knowledge or intelligence.
According to him, a candidate’s score must be understood within the context of the overall performance of others who sat for the examination in the same year.
“It is not how good you are that your JAMB score speaks to. It is more about how you rank against others,” the registrar said.
He illustrated this by explaining that a score of 299 could be considered low if most candidates in a particular examination year scored above 300.
On the proposed reforms, Aina said a committee comprising education stakeholders and experts had been established to develop recommendations on how life skills and critical thinking could be incorporated into the examination.
He said the committee would determine whether the competencies should be assessed as separate components or integrated into the existing UTME subjects.
The proposed changes form part of a broader review of the examination framework to make it more responsive to the demands of higher education.
Meanwhile, the registrar announced new measures to address difficulties candidates face when attempting to update their personal information on JAMB’s platform.
He said candidates who had lost access to the telephone numbers or email addresses used during registration could now update the information through the board’s established procedures.
Aina also disclosed that JAMB had introduced a National Identification Number alignment process to enable candidates to correct discrepancies in their personal records through the National Identity Management Commission before synchronising the updated details with their JAMB profiles.
He said the process would help candidates whose admission prospects had been affected by inconsistencies in their names, dates of birth and other personal information.
“Thousands of people were stuck. They completed their degrees; they couldn’t go to university because this wasn’t possible. It is now possible,” he said.
The registrar urged candidates to consult JAMB’s official website and social media platforms for details on the new procedures and other services provided by the board.
However, the proposed inclusion of life skills and critical thinking remains under consideration, pending the outcome of the committee’s recommendations.
