The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has commenced moves to integrate life skills and critical thinking into the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), in a proposed reform aimed at making the examination more responsive to the changing demands of higher education.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of a committee of education stakeholders and experts tasked with developing a framework for incorporating the skills into the examination.
According to Aina, the proposed reform is based on a reassessment of the role UTME plays in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
He explained that UTME primarily serves as a ranking and selection examination for candidates who have already obtained O-Level qualifications.
As a result, he argued that concentrating exclusively on subject-matter knowledge could lead to unnecessary duplication of assessments already conducted by examination bodies such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
Why JAMB is considering the change
The proposed framework is intended to broaden the skills assessed during the university admission process.
Life skills and critical thinking are increasingly regarded as important competencies for students entering tertiary institutions, where learners are expected not only to recall information but also to analyse problems, make decisions and apply knowledge in unfamiliar situations.
JAMB’s proposed approach would therefore move the UTME beyond a narrow focus on academic recall, although the precise format and weighting of any new components have yet to be announced.
The committee inaugurated by Aina is expected to develop the framework that will guide how such skills could be incorporated into the examination.
No immediate change to the UTME format announced
The announcement does not mean that the existing UTME format has immediately been replaced.
Rather, JAMB has commenced a process of consultation and framework development.
The committee’s recommendations will be important in determining the nature, scope and timing of any eventual changes.
The proposed reform also raises questions about how life skills and critical thinking can be assessed consistently across millions of candidates while maintaining fairness, reliability and transparency in university admissions.
For now, JAMB’s initiative signals an effort to reconsider what the country’s principal tertiary admission examination should measure in an education system increasingly focused on skills as well as academic knowledge.