JAMB dey consider to add life skills and critical thinking to UTME
- JAMB dey consider to test life skills and critical thinking for UTME, na im registrar Prof. Segun Aina talk.
- One committee wey Prof. Boniface Nworgu lead go advise on how dem go take check the skills, but no final decision yet.
- Aina also talk say UTME scores dey rank candidates against dia peers instead of measuring intelligence, and e announce say profile corrections don easy.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) dey consider to add life skills and critical thinking to the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the test wey millions of Nigerian students dey sit every year for university admission.
JAMB Registrar Prof. Segun Aina disclose the plan on Wednesday, according to several reports. He talk on Nigerian Television Authority's Good Morning Nigeria programme, and also meet UTME candidates at the board's Abuja zonal office during JAMB's 2026 Customer Week.
Aina talk say the aim na to assess candidates beyond how well dem dey answer questions for academic subjects, looking at how dem dey reason, make decisions and apply knowledge to real-life situations.
No final decision yet
Dem don set up one committee of education stakeholders and experts to work out how dem go take test the skills. Tribune report say psychometrician Prof. Boniface Nworgu dey head the committee.
The panel go decide whether the skills go be separate part of the exam or dem go build am into existing UTME subjects. E go also judge whether dem fit measure am reliably before dem send recommendations to JAMB management.
Aina stress say no final decision don dey made. If dem approve the recommendations, JAMB go set up another panel of experts to design how the changes go work. He talk say the idea no be to replace current academic requirements but to explore extra ways of checking whether candidates fit dia chosen courses.
He use medicine as example, talk say doctors need sound judgement and understanding of the consequences of dia decisions, not just technical knowledge.
Wetin your UTME score really mean
Aina also move to clear up confusion about the minimum entry score, talk say e no be measure of how knowledgeable candidate be but na way to rank dem against dia peers.
"E no be how good you be wey your JAMB score dey talk about. E more about how you rank against others,"
he talk, according to the reports.
He explain say the score depend on how the whole set of candidates perform for that year. "If you dey among JAMB candidates where everybody score pass 300, then 299 go suddenly start to look like very low score," he talk.
For candidates, the board also announce relief on personal details. Those wey don lose access to the phone number or email wey dem use register fit now change them through JAMB's procedures.
One National Identification Number (NIN) alignment process go also let candidates correct details with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and then match them to dia JAMB profiles. Aina talk say before, names and dates of birth no fit change, leaving thousands of people stuck even after dem finish dia degrees.
He warn say anybody wey try to use the process to fraudulently change dia identity go face the law.
JAMB also talk say candidates wey dey await admission go now get more detailed updates on dia status instead of generic messages like "not admitted" or "admission in progress".
Wetin go happen next: The Nworgu committee expected to submit dia recommendations to JAMB management. Candidates fit check JAMB's website and social media pages for details on the new procedures.
