This year's Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination [UTME] will commence on Monday, February 29. It will be the second year since the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) started the full-blown Computer-Based Test (CBT) as against the pencil-based test that had been used over the years. JAMB experimented with CBT in select centres in 2013 and 2014 and beginning from last year, it made CBT compulsory for all candidates sitting for its exam. As it were, JAMB sold the CBT idea to Nigerians with what it considers to be the advantages of this test-system over the previous PBT. First, CBT can be better supervised. Secondly, JAMB claimed that CBT would eliminate the high cost of producing written materials and of transporting them to various locations across the country. The test software would now be sent electronically to internet portals at designated examination centres. Also, CBT is expected to reduce examination malpractices. As a result of these advantages, stakeholders in the education sector agreed that CBT is the way to go.

As it happened, a lot of problems were experienced in the 2015 edition of UTME, leading to an outcry by candidates and parents. In Lagos State for instance, the biometric machine JAMB provided at some centres failed to capture the thumb-prints of many candidates. These candidates were frustrated, leading to a clumsy arrangement in identifying them. Secondly, at some centres internet servers failed, leading to a delay in the commencement of the examination. Examinations billed to commence at 9am didn't start until 3.30pm, hence candidates nervously answered questions up till 7.30pm. Because the tests were conducted in batches, thousands of other candidates had to wait endlessly for their turn to enter into the hall. There were reports that at some centres many of the computers provided were not functional. For instance, it was reported that at a centre where there were 250 computers for the test only 150 of them were functional. At some centres, there were reports of constant power failure. Furthermore, as a result of the limited numbers of examination centres, candidates who chose to write the examination in Lagos State were posted to Ogun, Osun and Kwara States. A myriad of problems, but JAMB said they were teething problems!

Beyond the problems listed above is the fact that hundreds of thousands of candidates in rural areas are denied equal opportunity with their peers in urban centres who are relatively better exposed to computer skills. This is because most public schools lack chalk, desks, libraries and other instructional materials not to talk of computers. Though the use of computer has been made compulsory as from

Primary Four in all public schools, the policy has not been matched by the provision of computers and qualified teachers in this area. What it amounts to is that hundreds of thousands of potential candidates for admission into tertiary institutions are denied the opportunity, and those who did emergency training on the use of computer for the UTME but are not conversant with its use will underperform in the test.

Hence, they may fail to meet the cut-off points for the courses of their choice. Though it is no time to ask the authorities to halt computer-based test for UTME, it is vital for government to deepen computer education in public schools so as to reduce the number of candidates who are put at a disadvantage in admission into tertiary institutions. Also, now that JAMB has taken the irreversible steps in conducting CBT, the body should ensure that the problems encountered last year do not re-occur as the examination begins next Monday. JAMB should not give excuses to innocent candidates whose life ambitions could be truncated by its rush into a scheme for which the country's infrastructural situation is hardly prepared. If hitches again rock this year's CBT, we will not accept lame excuses from JAMB.