JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, explaining a point to the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, during the UTME monitoring exercise, as other officials observe with keen interest.
By Felix Khanoba
The Federal Government has commended the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for the successful conduct of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), describing the exercise as free from examination malpractice.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, gave the commendation on Monday after monitoring the UTME at several examination centres in Abuja.
Alausa attributed the smooth conduct of the examination to the deployment of various technological mechanisms by JAMB, which he said had effectively eliminated malpractice.
He announced that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) have been directed to also commence computer-based testing (CBT) for their examinations.
According to the minister, if JAMB could successfully conduct CBT examinations for over two million candidates, WAEC and NECO should be capable of achieving the same.
“JAMB is able to conduct this kind of exam that meets all international standards. We’re going to get WAEC and NECO by November of this year to also start the objective exam on CBT.
“By next exam, the 2026 exams, which will come up in May, June, both the objectives and the essay will be fully on CBT. That is how we can eliminate exam malpractices. We want our children to study and not perfect way of cheating. When some students cheat during the exams, it is disservice to the hard-working ones,” Alausa said.
The minister also revealed that a committee is currently reviewing examination standards across the country, with a report expected to be submitted next month.
Speaking earlier, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, addressed concerns regarding the early scheduling of examination times.
Oloyede said that candidates were only expected to be on ground by 6:30 a.m., to enable them get accredited before the exams.
He dismissed complaints about early arrival times, noting that it was necessary to screen candidates before exams begin.
“We have always started our exams at 8 o’clock. The first session is 8 o’clock, second session 10:30, third session, 1 p.m, and fourth session 3:30p.m.
Oloyede also debunked claims of candidates being posted to centres they did not choose, stating that investigations showed no such cases happened.
He confirmed that more than 1.6 million out of 2.03 million registered candidates had completed their exams, with about 50,000 remaining.
The registrar further revealed that more than 40 candidates had been arrested for malpractice, including impersonation.
