Tobias Sylvester
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said it will deploy drones and CCTV cameras to monitor all the identified 700 examination centres for 2020 University and Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).
The board’s Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this during a two-day meeting with Computer Based Test (CBT) Centre Operators, State Coordinators of the Board, Financial Institutions and Internet Service Providers in Zaria, Kaduna State, on Thursday, December 19, 2019.
According to him, the drones and CCTV cameras will be used to monitor examination malpractice, and also to check any activity that can jeopardise the efforts of the Board from being a transparent agency of government it is known for.
Revealing that JAMB has generated N20 billion from 2016 to 2019, Oloyede told CBT centre operators not to worry about their investments while transacting business with the board as long as they were doing their work in accordance with the agreed registration and examination guidelines. He said:
“You have nothing to fear and you should know that, if you put your investments together, it can’t be up to N20bn and we have accrued N20bn in three years as an agency.
“As Agency of government, we have to ensure that small and medium scale businesses strive and if you multiply 11 staff by 700, you will know better. We are also adding value to the economy and job creation out of your employment market and we will continue to support you once you are doing your work well.”
To check registration and examination scandals, the Registrar directed that “all CCTV must be wired, all camera must cover verification areas, coding areas, walk ways, examination hall, server room and entrance and exit in all centres. We will also use drones to monitor the centres.”
In the area of prosecution of those caught in the past he said, “100 candidates caught red-handed are under prosecution – 20 jailed and 80 others are under investigation.
“Last year was for the prosecution of candidates. By the grace of God, it is the turn of CBT centres to be prosecuted. If you do work well, it will reduce the cost of running from one court to the other.”
