JAMB TINKERS INTEGRATING LIFE SKILLS, CRITICAL THINKING INTO UTME

JAMB is planning to reform UTME to include critical thinking, reasoning and life skills.

Currently, UTME mainly tests candidates on subjects such as English, Mathematics, Biology, Government, Economics, etc. JAMB is now considering adding skills such as:

• Critical thinking – being able to examine information and make sensible conclusions.
• Analytical reasoning – breaking a problem into parts and understanding how they relate.
• Logical reasoning – using facts and clear reasoning to arrive at an answer.
• Verbal reasoning – understanding and analysing written or spoken information.
• Life skills – practical skills that can help students deal with real-life situations and challenges.

Why is JAMB considering this?

JAMB says WAEC and NECO already assess much of the subject knowledge students learn at O-Level. So, the idea is for UTME to also determine whether a candidate has the thinking and reasoning abilities needed to succeed in higher education.

For example, instead of simply asking a student to remember a fact, a future UTME question might give the student a situation or set of information and ask them to analyse it, identify the correct conclusion, or solve a problem.

Is this change happening immediately?

Not necessarily. JAMB has inaugurated a committee to study how these new competencies could be included. The committee will consider whether they should be tested as a separate section or incorporated into the existing UTME subjects.

The committee has four weeks to submit its initial recommendations. Assessment experts will then be expected to develop any framework that JAMB eventually decides to adopt.