The Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership has collaborated with Educare on mainstreaming computer-based testing (CBT) into schools curricula.
The Chancellor of the Center, Osita Chidoka, at the Athena/Educare Free Nationwide JAMB Preparatory CBT launch in Abuja on Monday, said the organisation was targeting one million students in its programme.
Chidoka said the programme was aimed at promoting constructive platforms for digital space that would enable students taking CBT exams to prepare adequately.
“We have come to observe that 80 percent of students taking the JAMB CBT exams were not familiar with computers.
“We therefore need to mainstream CBT in schools to achieve quality education because digital capacity is the future of our country.
“Today, we do not manufacture education, and our children now go out of the country in search of education. The billions they spend on education outside can change the fortunes of our education,” he said.
Chidoka urged stakeholders to look into investing in infrastructure that would cater to the needs of the number of students engaged in CBT exams across the country and make them compete globally.
Also, the founder of Educare, Mr. Alex Onyia, said the organisation was prompted to take the initiative owing to the number of students who failed the JAMB examination as a result of a lack of knowledge of CBT.
Onyia said that investment in a platform that enhances skills such as this would give Nigerian students a quality education.
“In the community I came from, more than 70 percent of students failed JAMB last year. So, we decided to check the educational landscape of that community.
“We also know that 1.9 million registered for JAMB, and out of this number, only about 260,000 candidates could write the mock exams. What is the faith of the other 1.7 million students?
“What we are doing is seeing how the two organisations partner to enhance the digital skills of students, particularly in rural communities, and prepare them for future CBT exams,” he said.
On his part, Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State, who spoke virtually, said the country needed a strong political will to create platforms for expanding CBT infrastructure.
Mutfwang added that political leaders must be deliberate in mobilising critical stakeholders to come up with strategies for expanding CBT infrastructure.
On the challenges of expanding CBT infrastructure, he urged stakeholders to support the initiative in the area of funding as well as provide massive campaigns to the local government areas to buy into the initiative.
In the same vein, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State said the country is in the era of digital skills, hence the need to embrace CBT in all examinations.
Soludo, represented by his Special Adviser on Business and Innovation, Chinwe Okoli, said the country must begin to drive the education system by preparing students to embrace digital skills. (NAN)
