“What content did they receive to prepare them for the exam? Who taught them? What did the person teach?”
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigerians have reacted to news of disappointing performance in 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) by blaming the situation mostly on social-economic conditions that frustrate learning.
“Are the learning environments conducive enough for students to learn and assimilate? How would a student learn to consider the high cost of living? How would someone who missed the last 3 square meals pass an examination?” one netizen asked.
JAMB disclosed only 0.4% or 8,401 out of the 1.98 million candidates 300 marks out of probable 400.
“Out of the 1,842,464 released results, only 0.4% secured scores exceeding 300, while 24% achieved a score of 200 or higher,” JAMB Registrar Ishaq Oloyede announced on Tuesday.
That triggered reactions from Nigerians across social media platforms, generating more than 40,000 tweets with discussion revolving around the recurring substantial failure rates every year.
The views are collated below:
Uloma
“Nigerians have such one-dimensional view of problems. 80% of students who wrote Jamb failed and you’re blaming social media and smartphones. Not the fact that your government budget for education is a joke, not poverty, not the utme system, just straight to smartphones.”
Joseph Brendan
“The day I knew that Nigerian leaders and the people at large are funny is when I realized that the lowest Jamb scores were for colleges of education. So you are taking the worst performed students and training them to teach the children of the best performed students smh”
Pooja
“1.8m wrote JAMB. 1.4m scored below 200. This is a big problem & worrisome. A generation that loves shortcuts, dwells in drugs, prefers bangers, and quick money & so on. If you can still use your head, you better study well cos education never fades”
Afolabi
“Are the learning environments conducive enough for students to learn and assimilate? How would a student learn to consider the high cost of living? How would someone who missed the last 3 square meals pass an examination? Are there enough teachers in the schools! There are so many factors to consider as regards this topic.”
Bayo Otedola
“Last year, over 70% failed jamb This year, it’s 76% These people no wan go school. They’re only interested in Yahoo and Hook-up.”
Dipo Awojide
“Nigerian parents must search their soul. What are you doing to contribute to the academic success of your children? Do you let them spend hours on TikTok and Instagram or mess around all day? Children must have control. The overall JAMB performance is disappointing!”
Uwanabasi
“I know people want to blame this bad JAMB outcome on social media but I don’t think that is the only reason. How can a child study fervently when there’s no food at home? How can a child be passionate about school when their parents are struggling to feed and provide for them?”
Nwaoma007
“Start with the simplest solutions. If students are failing JAMB, ask: “What content did they receive to prepare them for the exam? Who taught them? What did the person teach? Who reviews and assesses the quality of teaching? The quality of text books?”
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