JAMB Considers Adding Life Skills, Critical Thinking to UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is considering the introduction of life skills and critical thinking into the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as part of efforts to broaden how candidates are assessed.

JAMB Registrar, Professor Segun Aina, disclosed this during an appearance on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria programme on Wednesday. He explained that the proposed changes are intended to assess abilities beyond candidates’ knowledge of traditional academic subjects.

According to Aina, a committee comprising education experts and other stakeholders has been constituted to develop recommendations on how the additional skills could be assessed. The committee will also determine whether they should be tested separately or incorporated into existing UTME subjects.

The registrar also clarified that a candidate’s UTME score primarily determines their position relative to other candidates in the same examination cycle, rather than serving as an absolute measure of academic ability.

JAMB is also introducing measures to help candidates resolve issues involving changes to registered phone numbers, email addresses and personal details, including a process for aligning candidates’ records with their National Identification Numbers.