The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), had conducted a promotional examination for 6,000 Directorate cadre staff of the Federal Civil Service Commission.
For candidates in the FCT, the computer-based test (CBT) was held at the JAMB CBT center in Kogo, Bwari Area Council.
Speaking with journalists during the exercise, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the exam is also conducted for candidates in the UK, USA, India and Egypt.
He said: “I think that it’s important to say that this is a very bold initiative on the part of the Federal Civil Service Commission and I’m not surprised about that because of the visionary leadership.
” I also believe that people do not need to die before death. The apprehension you could see when people are coming in as if computer is something that could not do but we have a system, a system that allows you alternative routes.
“Once you know how to use your cell phone, you’ll be able to write our examination successfully because it’s just A B C and you don’t need to touch the mouse. This examination is taking place not only within Nigeria, it’s also taking place in four countries across the world. It’s taking place in the UK, US, India and in Egypt. These are the four countries we have deployed our personnel.
“I believe that with what the Federal Civil Service Commission is doing, people will be less apprehensive about using computer because when I came into the hall, I could see apprehension, but by the time they saw what the instruction was and so on, I asked so many of them any question they were just smiling.
“So, I think we should not be afraid of things that we do not know rather we should confront them. I want to appreciate once again the leadership of the Federal Civil Service Commission for taking this bold step.”
Also speaking, the Commissioner representing FCT and Niger on the Federal Civil Service Commission, Dr Hussaini Adamu, said he is impressed with the performance of the candidates, revealing that the assessment commenced yesterday with about 1,500 candidates participating in three sessions.
He said: “My assessment is that we find the exercise to be an excellent one. It shows the experience of JAMB over the decades that they have been conducting this examination successfully. The candidates were earlier apprehensive, but after the commencement of the exercise, they are very happy and they actually preferred this process compared to the last system of using pen and paper. It is a transparent system.
“The halls have CCTV cameras that is watching remotely. The systems are working. The environment is conducive. The temperature using the air conditioners is okay and then the process is such that when they come before going into the hall there is a place where they are kept and it is secured.
“It’s a beautiful exercise and the outcome of the ones of yesterday and the first batch of today is good. I commend the JAMB for being able to conduct this exercise in this manner with dignity of service.
“I don’t have the figure up here, but I know they are in thousands because even on this hall, we have more than 500 seats and we have conducted three batches yesterday, which possibly might be about 1,500 and today we are also going to conduct another three today. As I said yesterday, I know that there are about 10 centers. Only two here. They are all over the Federal Capital Territory and at the end of the exercise yesterday, we held a meeting as a commission and to review the exercise and the outcome is good. That’s our conclusion.
“Well, for us we have stated that it is good but we always give room for improvement. We expect that they will find ways and means to make it better because as human beings we are always striving for better because if anybody comes with something better you will find that your system will be obsolete and this is using technology and technology is improving by the day or by the minutes.”
Also speaking, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Adetunji Olaopa, said it is the first time the commission is using CBT for promotion exam of staff, saying he was impressed with the success recorded in the examination of 6,000 candidates for the director cadre.
He said: “It is a little progress, but significant for us, in many sense. We know that computer-based tests is already popular, but at least for the
Federal Civil Service Commission, this is the first time we are doing this. We are fortunate because we build our confidence on the fact that we are partnering with a sister institution like JAMB that has built up experience for decades.
“When everybody thought we should thread carefully, we had that confidence with Professor Ishaq Oloyede at JAMB, a national brand and someone who is a performer, a man of strong integrity,
we knew that we could go ahead and we would succeed. So, so far, based on the target we set for ourselves, I’d like to say that though our success is clouded by the fact that some of our candidates are colleagues.
“We have not just met our targets in a significant way, we exceeded it and we are happy. There have been a lot of concerns expressed regarding whether CBT could not have been done, you know, everywhere around the country to make it convenient.
“Yes, we recognise this. But when you are going into a new field, a new area, when you are experimenting with a new innovation, it’s only proper that you start small and now use that your success as a basis to do more.
“So it also involves a lot of resources if we have to do it. Yes, in the States and all of that, the technology, the tracking. So we wanted to be sure that all is well. So that’s why we started from the FCT.
And clearly, from the successes that we have recorded, it doesn’t take us much to make it a lot more convenient and accessible to all candidates wherever they are located. It’s clearly a little over 6,000 all over In the Directory Cadre that are involved” he added.
