Teachers, parents and even student leaders have commented on the recent poor performance of candidates in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, blaming the government, the candidates, parents and even the society at large for the situation.
Reactions have continued to trail the poor performance of candidates in this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, in which about 75 percent of the candidates scored less than 200 out of the possible 400 marks.
Parents, under the aegis of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the National Association of Nigerian Students NANS among others, attributed the dismal performance to a number of factors including lack of adequate preparations on the part of the candidates, lack of facilities, timing of the examination among others.
Parents, under the auspices of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, said the government, teachers, learners and even the government for the rot in the education system that led to the poor performance.
The National President of NAPTAN, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, said learners no longer take studying serious, government not providing the necessary facilities, teachers are not motivated and parents not doing their responsibilities.
The Executive Director of Africa Brands Review, Joseph Ayodele, said the progressive decline in the performance of candidates in the UTME over the years is an indication of a looming generational divide in Nigerian education.
“The recently released 2025 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) results have once again ignited discussions about the state of Nigerian education. However, beyond the raw scores, a more profound issue is at play: the widening gap between the digital native generations entering our schools and the analog-rooted systems meant to nurture them,” he opined.
Giving a classification of the percentage of candidates that passed the exam in the last few years, he said in 2007 (66%), 2008 (63%), 2010 (41%), 2015 (30%), 2019 (24%), 2023 (23%) and 2025 (22%).
“Mark Crindle’s generational classification paints a clear picture: Baby-boomers (1946-1964) largely occupy leadership positions as Principals and Directors of Education, while Generation X (1965-1980) predominantly holds sway as Commissioners and Ministers of Education. Meanwhile, the students writing JAMB in 2025 predominantly belong to Generation Z (1997-2012), closely followed by the burgeoning Alpha Generation (2012-2025). These are the internet generations, immersed from birth in a global village offering both unparalleled learning opportunities and potential distractions.
“This digital immersion has significant implications for learning within our schools.To truly engage and focus these students, the effective integration of internet and digital learning tools is not a luxury but a necessity. Yet, the fundamental question remains: is Nigeria truly ready for this educational paradigm shift? We cannot earnestly discuss e-learning when the very foundation of the cognitive environment in our schools is shaky,” he stated.
Ayodele gave some of the factors militating against qualitative education that would bring satisfactory results to include: Crippling student-to-teacher ratios, broken promises of teacher remuneration, the current push for e-examinations appearing to be a leapfrog over the essential groundwork of establishing robust e-learning ecosystems etc.
“Finally, the stark decline in the percentage of candidates scoring 200 and above in JAMB over the past decade serves as a sobering indicator. This downward trend directly correlates with the last significant wave of teacher recruitment in Nigeria, over 15 years ago. While initiatives like state-level teacher corps schemes and the proposed federal NCE graduate corps acknowledge the staffing crisis, their long-term impact hinges on genuine commitment and sustained investment in the teaching profession.”
A supervisor during the exam, who wishes to remain anonymous, gave a brief of his observations as thus – most candidates don’t know how to use the computer well.
Some of the complaints candidates made to him were: I don’t know how to use capital letters- that is the two alphabet at the end of their registration number.
I made mistake and I don’t know how to delete the number.
I don’t know the key to use and choose the answer.
I don’t know how to get to the next question.
I don’t know how to change to the next subject.
I don’t know how to submit and end the exams.
So many don’t know how to use the mouse and the keyboard.
I don’t know where I can find calculator on the screen and many more.
“It was was so frustrating that even when you direct them to press this key or click on the mouse the person will ask you, please, where is it. And they will do as if it will bite them. I felt for one when I discovered that he answered only three questions out of 180 and he told me that he answered all the questions. I showed him on the screen. I discovered that he was not clicking on the right bullet that is why his questions were on red. The only three he had was the one I showed him where to click earlier since he was always raising his hands.
“Most students are ignorant that any question answered will automatically turn from red to green. My suggestion is that the students should be sensitized in all the schools especially those in the remote villages that have no access to computers. Even those in the town. In each session of the exams only 10% seems to know what to do and submitted on time. Many were logged out at the end of the exams with so many unanswered questions. From this experience I think there is no exaggeration in the JAMB result as announced.”
By Alade Adisa
