How JAMB foils exam, admission fraud

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has employed several methods of fraud detection and prevention in exams and admission processes including automation.

This was contained in a presentation made by the registrar, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede at the 2020 virtual policy meeting on admissions to higher institutions last week.

According to the presentation, solutions have been provided for fraud in exams and admission processes and that the act of denying PUTE test to disqualify candidates by institutions is being prevented by uploading all screening scores onto the Central Admission Processing System (CAPS) while the act of admitting unqualified candidates on ‘awaiting results’ will also be cured by the upload of O’ Level results before approval.

Similarly, the use of catchment criteria to admit non-catchment candidates is detected through ‘automation of catchment.’

The registrar outlined a total of 16 non-catchment candidates who allegedly attempted to obtain admission spaces in some institutions using catchment policy in the 2019 admission.

It was uncovered that one Emmanuel Nichodemus Okechukwu who scored 318 in the UTME and applied for MBBS claimed to be an indigene of Jigawa State while Godwin Nzubechukwu Marcellenus with 305 marks who applied for MBBS claimed to be from Adamawa State.

Also, Ugwuanyi Emmanuel Chidera who applied for MBBS with 297 marks had Kano as his state of origin while Attama Paul Chidozie claimed to be from Borno State.  Others were Uzoechi Uchenna Peter, Plateau State; Nwakuba Victor C, Niger State; and Chukwukere Uchenna Wisdom, Kebbi State.

In another development, the University of Maiduguri, which received 46,814 applications with 12,536 spaces, admitted the highest number of students of 12,523 in 2019.

Also, College of Education Pankshin, Plateau State, with 4,850 spaces and admitted 4,828, was adjudged the highest while Kaduna Polytechnic, with 7,897 spaces admitted 7,897, the highest number among polytechnics.