Controversy Erupts Over Ethnicization of JAMB’s 2025 UTME — Experts Call It Unfortunate

Like nearly every problem in Nigeria, it is regrettable that the JAMB work for the 2025 UMTE exams has been ethnicized. It saddens me that those who ought to rise above the cacophony have been overtaken by primitive impulses.

Significant technical issues have plagued high-stakes standardized examinations worldwide, casting doubt on the validity and dependability of these evaluations. Nigeria is not an anomaly.

After the 2024 NEET-UG test, India’s National Testing Agency (NTA) came under heavy fire last year. Allegations of question paper leaks plagued the exam, and officials arrested people in connection with the breaches.

Moreover, disparities in the outcomes, like an abnormally high percentage of flawless scores and mathematically unlikely grades, sparked public indignation and legal challenges. The Supreme Court heard the case. Despite acknowledging that the paper leak benefited at least 155 students, the Supreme Court decided against a nationwide reexamination, noting the absence of systematic failure.

Similar problems, including technical hiccups and inconsistent question paper difficulty levels, plagued India’s Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in 2024, which caused candidates to become dissatisfied and worry about normalization.

To modernize the examination procedure, the College Board in the United States of America moved the SAT to a digital format in 2024. The launch was not without problems, though. Some test-takers complained that the testing process was interrupted by technical issues such as software bugs and network issues. The occurrences demonstrated the difficulties of making the large-scale switch to digital exams, even though the College Board allayed these worries by offering alternate testing dates and assistance.

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Nigeria has frequently encountered technical difficulties for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). About 77% of applicants received scores below 200 out of 400 in 2024, a figure that spurred discussions on the exam’s impartiality.

The widespread failure was ascribed by parents and educators to power outages during the tests, poor internet access, and computer difficulties. JAMB documented significant errors that resulted in widespread failures, seemingly in an effort to address the 2024 concerns.

The government of India formed a high-level commission to supervise examination reforms as a result of the repercussions from the NEET-UG issue. The U.S. College Board provided alternate testing options in order to overcome technical concerns. The chiefs of the agencies were neither stigmatized nor profiled in the United States or India. The authorities addressed the issues after realizing they were systemic.

The frequent technological problems with standardized testing in these nations highlight the necessity of reliable infrastructure, open procedures, and responsibility.

In order to preserve public confidence in these vital evaluation systems, stakeholders must place a high priority on fairness and dependability as exams continue to change, especially with the incorporation of digital platforms. Ethnic solutions are not possible.