The Federal Government has been called upon to urgently address the technological, human, and power deficits negatively affecting the success rate of Computer-Based Tests (CBTs).
By Olawale Akinremi
The Federal Government has been called upon to urgently address the technological, human, and power deficits negatively affecting the success rate of Computer-Based Tests (CBTs).
Prof. Julius Ademokoya of the Department of Special Education, University of Ibadan, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Tuesday.
Ademokoya said that CBTs still had hitches meant the nation still lacked the technological know-how to introduce and make the innovation work seamlessly.
“We also lack the human depth or experience of the technological know-how. Who operates what, especially when there is a system breakdown?
“What kind of technological appliances do we need to generate or guarantee hitch-free technologies when it comes to conducting exams.
“As far as I’m concerned, it is the same reason we cannot yet have transparent or hitch-free election results; the same affects the results released first by JAMB and now, WAEC,” he said.
The don said that Ghana was technologically advanced than Nigeria based on what they had been able to do so far.
“I was in Ghana when the results of the election that produced their president were announced through the use of technology.
“Everyone clearly saw the difference between the winner and the loser, and nobody bothered about challenging the results due to the transparency.
“Have you ever heard of any hitch in the Ghanaian secondary school external examinations?
“We must look at the quality of the technologies being deployed.
“Why is it that Nigeria cannot have power that is regular enough to conduct computer-based examinations?
“Unfortunately, we still have both technical and human elements that cannot guarantee seamless CBT results,” said the scholar.
Ademokoya, a former National Chairman, Dean of Deans of Education in Nigeria, also traced poor examination results to the difficult nature of questions asked and unfavourable environmental conditions.
He noted that a student’s emotional and psychological states, affected by different social, political, and economic problems, could also determine the success or otherwise of the examination result.
“The reason most Nigerian universities still organise one form of examination or the other before offering students admission is because of the inadequacies observed in external exams.
“At the end of the day, those who score very high marks in JAMB or WAEC may end up performing badly, and vice versa,” he said.
NAN recalls that within five months, management of JAMB and WAEC were separately forced to tender public apologies with respect to errors in their results. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)