Educationist, Dr. Ugbejeh canvasses phasal migration of SSCE to CBT

An educationist, Dr. Samson Onyemaeki Ugbejeh, has advised the Federal government, West African Examination Council, WAEC and National Examination Council, NECO to consider phasal migration of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, SSCE from the current physical paper format, to Computer-Based Testing, CBT.

Dr. Ugbejeh, who is the Chief Inspector of Education, CIE in Warri South Local Government Area, gave the advice in Warri, Delta State, Wednesday June 4, during an interview with Fresh Angle International.

The consummate educationist, who spoke in his personal capacity, noted that the advice was necessitated by the large number of candidates writing the SSCE yearly, when compared to Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, the number of computer facilities and standard centres needed for complete migration to Computer-Based Testing.

He explained: “Look at the number of people in JAMB and the number of people in WAEC, it is not something you jump into. For you to achieve that, you must sit down, create centres and take somethings into consideration.

“We are going to talk about the number of computers we are going to buy and the number of centres to create, that can accommodate them. You must create power and system to accommodate the number of candidates. They can do it in phases, so that we use it as a ballot system to know the efficacy. The number of people writing UTME, is less than 2million, but we are talking about 10million writing SSCE.”

When asked about his experience regarding the ongoing SSCE, Dr. Ugbejeh, stated: “There are lots of innovation that has come in this time around and I am sure if they stand by it, it will go a long way to curb examination malpractices.

“Look at the objectives that have keyed into the JAMB pattern, questions for candidates are logical, but segmented. Before you know two persons writing same thing, it will take a long time and that’s why it is helping JAMB. If they continue with that trend, it will go a long way in reducing examination malpractice.”

Recall that in a significant move to modernize Nigeria’s education system, the Federal Government, recently directed the West African Examinations Council, WAEC and the National Examinations Council, NECO to adopt Computer-Based Testing, C.B.T. by 2026. The directive aims to enhance the efficiency, security, and reliability of the examination process.

The shift to CBT is expected to reduce examination malpractices, increase the speed of result processing, and provide a more accurate assessment of students’ knowledge. With technology increasingly playing a vital role in education, this move is seen as a step in the right direction.

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