Over 6000 civil servants in Nigeria, United Kingdom, India, Egypt and the United States have participated in the Federal Civil Service promotional examination for director cadre, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.
Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Adetunji Olaopa, disclosed this while monitoring the exercise at the JAMB Computer Based Test, CBT, center in Kogo, Bwari, Abuja.
Olaopa noted that it was the first time the commission is using CBT for promotion exam of staff, adding that he was impressed with the success recorded in the examination of 6,000 candidates for the director cadre.
“It is a little progress, but significant for us, in many senses. We know that computer-based tests are already popular, but at least for the Federal Civil Service Commission, this is the first time we are doing this. We are fortunate because we build our confidence on the fact that we are partnering with a sister institution like JAMB that has built up experience for decades.
“When everybody thought we should thread carefully, we had that confidence with Professor Ishaq Oloyede at JAMB, a national brand and someone who is a performer, a man of strong integrity, we knew that we could go ahead and we would succeed. So far, based on the target we set for ourselves, I’d like to say that though our success is clouded by the fact that some of our candidates are colleagues.
“We have not just met our targets in a significant way, we exceeded it and we are happy. There have been a lot of concerns expressed regarding whether CBT could not have been done, you know, everywhere around the country to make it convenient,” he said.
Also speaking, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, said the exam was also conducted for candidates in the UK, USA, India and Egypt.
Oloyede described the exercise as a very bold initiative on the part of the Federal Civil Service Commission, adding that he was not surprised about that because of the visionary leadership.
The JAMB Registrar noted that the apprehension about CBT exams was easily overcome because the system allows you alternative routes.
“Once you know how to use your cell phone, you’ll be able to write our examination successfully because it’s just A B C and you don’t need to touch the mouse. This examination is taking place not only within Nigeria, it’s also taking place in four countries across the world. It’s taking place in the UK, US, India and in Egypt. These are the four countries we have deployed our personnel.
“I believe that with what the Federal Civil Service Commission is doing, people will be less apprehensive about using computer because when I came into the hall, I could see apprehension, but by the time they saw what the instruction was and so on, I asked so many of them any question they were just smiling,” he said.
