By Adesina Wahab

An advocacy group in the education sector, the Concerned Parents and Educators Initiative (CPE), Thursday called on the federal government to find lasting solutions to the recurring challenges facing the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, especially in its handling of the yearly Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.

The resolution of the group stemmed from a webinar themed, “JAMB crisis: Way Forward”, which brought together education leaders, tech innovators, and parents.

The session addressed public outrage that greeted the conduct of the 2025 UTME, which was marred by allegations of mass failure, regional disparities, and technical lapses in the computer-based testing (CBT) system.

They called for the adoption of multiple examination windows, including conducting UTME more than once a year (biannually) to reduce candidate pressure and allow for better performance calibration and technical preparation.

“There is  the need for a transition to Cloud-based Infrastructure. Upgrading to a cloud-supported architecture would improve the resilience and scalability of JAMB’s CBT systems, reduce technical failures, and ensure data security.

“JAMB also need to expand accredited CBT centres accessibility, especially in underserved rural and remote areas to reduce travel burden and increase exam inclusivity, as well as  enhance system security through intelligent fraud detection algorithms and robust monitoring of CBT centres,” they stated.

The webinar featured Joshua Ozugbakun, Head of Strategy at Tuteria, and Alex Onyia, CEO of Educare. They outlined urgent reforms needed to restore public trust in Nigeria’s tertiary exam system and improve student outcomes.

Among the key solutions proposed were the introduction of critical-thinking based test items, better teacher training, performance analytics for schools, digital literacy programmes for students in disadvantaged areas and parental involvement in their children’s academic preparation.

“Poor results cannot be blamed on JAMB alone,” Ozugbakun stated, calling for a national focus on teacher quality and parental involvement.

He emphasised that outsourcing parental duties to schools has contributed to academic underperformance.

Onyia called for bridging severe infrastructure gaps and proposed public-private partnerships that would allow underused private schools to help relieve pressure on overcrowded public institutions.

He also recommended stricter quality control for CBT centres and suggested that faith-based organisations be contracted to manage underperforming public schools.

In her remarks, the  Founder/ Convener of CPE initiative, Yinka Ogunde, stated that implementing the recommendations would  significantly improve the credibility, accessibility and effectiveness of the UTME process, ultimately strengthening Nigeria’s tertiary education admission system.

“This is only the beginning. The forum is the first in a series of engagements aimed at driving sustainable change in Nigeria’s education system through collaboration with government and private sector stakeholders.

“We would appreciate the opportunity to engage further with the government in refining these proposals and exploring avenues for collaboration,” Ogunde stated.