This year’s JAMB 2021 has come and gone but the mass failure of students in the examination needs not be swept under the carpet. Lessons need to be drawn so that there will be no such repeat of failure.
Many reasons must have contributed to the failure of students and lack of planning is one of them. There is a saying that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. To be clearer, many students did not plan for the examination and it boomeranged. Majority of the students were always on social media. Some were on Facebook and could not face their books. How then can you give what you do not have ? Just like a footballer going for a match, he needs to train. If not, he may not be fit to play. How can a student succeed in examination without proper planning ?
Another notable cause for this year’s JAMB failure is hinged on parents. The high level of parental pressure and control on students is alarming. How can a boy who is good in arts be made to study sciences just within few months because you want him to be a medical doctor or a nurse in future ? Parents have failed to note that learning is systematic and a gradual process. Little wonder many students failed Chemistry, physics and Biology because they are not grounded in sciences.
Technical hitches and NIN issues were also the major causes of mass failure in JAMB. The troubling technical problem made students lose concentration in their studies. Many students spent money trying to get profile codes which were not made available after money deduction from their mobile subscribers. Not only that, some students visited NIN centres than they visited tutorial centres as their hopes of registration were hung on a thread. Many students could not continue with such pressure while those that did not back off eventually sat for the examination. At various centres, their computers experienced hitches. Many students couldn’t finish up while some bemoaned their computers going dead completely. The outcome of the result was unsavoury.
Several name callings followed the outcome of the examination. Many people branded JAMB as wicked . The real truth here is that several students failed to follow JAMB recommended syllabus. Students have iPads , Android phones but it did not cross their minds that apart from entertainment roles, their phones can help them academically.
How do we arrest the situation to ensure such mass failure does not occur again ? Students who are to write next year’s examination should be well prepared. Nobody goes to farm without farm tools. No footballer will go for a football match without proper training. Students must step up and get ready to swim through the hurdles of JAMB examination.
Parents should allow their children or wards to opt for courses of their choices. Same way we have different faces, there are also different destinies. Parents should not force their children to take different courses that do not match up their interest. If children are allowed to opt for courses of their choices, they will likely come out with flying colours having gotten prepared.
JAMB should ensure that problems of technical hitches should be arrested. They should ensure that profile code generation should be done without stress. Linking of NIN should be calmly done without making potential examination candidates to suffer. With this, the problem witnessed this year in JAMB will be ameliorated .
Students as a matter of careful planning should get JAMB syllabus for all the subjects they will write. This will give them a focus to ride on. Can a ship sail without a mast ? Obviously, no. If students are ready to study deeply with their syllabus, they will make things easier for themselves. Thus, mass failure in JAMB examination will be curbed.
In conclusion, it is Worthy to note that Rome was not built a day. A journey of a thousand miles start with a step. If everything is analysed and fixed, hopefully, coming JAMB examination will not be like that of 2021.
Okwundu Uchenna Martins ,
Anambra State
okwunduu9@gmail.com.
