The Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, has assured that no student, whether in urban or rural areas, will be excluded from the ongoing transition to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for national examinations.
She gave this assurance on Tuesday during a monitoring visit to selected centres hosting the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Abuja.
“We will not implement CBT in a way that excludes any student. Every child will have the opportunity to sit their exams, irrespective of their location or infrastructure challenges,” she said.
Ahmad appealed for patience from the public, stressing that all concerns are being addressed to ensure a smooth transition. “Nigerians should bear with us. By the time CBT is fully rolled out, no student will be disadvantaged,” she added.
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Highlighting the benefits of CBT, the minister acknowledged that technical and infrastructural challenges must be addressed before nationwide implementation can take place.
Citing observations from her visit, she noted that students showed a clear preference for the computer-based format. “From my interaction with students, they are happy with the CBT exams and actually prefer them to the traditional paper-based method,” she said.
She described a visit to a CBT centre where the process was smooth and timely, in contrast to a paper-based exam centre where delays caused by rain and the unavailability of exam scripts disrupted the process. “These are the kinds of issues CBT is designed to eliminate,” she noted.
Ahmad emphasised that CBT ensures exam fairness, with the system starting the timer only when a student accesses the questions, thus preserving each candidate’s allotted exam time.
She also identified the potential of CBT to significantly curb examination malpractices. With unique question sets for each candidate, incidents such as impersonation, question leaks, and coordinated cheating would be greatly minimised. “We know the ways in which students and schools manipulate the system, but CBT will close those loopholes,” she said.
The minister, however, acknowledged the significant logistical challenges in rural areas, particularly with electricity and internet connectivity.
To bridge these gaps, she said that WAEC and NECO are working closely with JAMB and other stakeholders. Existing JAMB CBT centres will be utilised for future exams, while state governments are being engaged to assess and respond to rural and urban infrastructure needs.
“When we roll out CBT exams, we will use established JAMB centres, not school facilities especially in rural areas where power supply is unreliable,” Ahmad said.
She concluded by citing the school visited during the inspection, which had no electricity in its examination hall, as an example of why careful planning is essential. “All of these factors are being considered. We are committed to ensuring that no student is left behind in this transition,” she affirmed.
