Immediate past Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, has described the involvement of parents in organising examination malpractice for their children and wards as the most painful experience of his decade-long tenure.
Oloyede made the remark on Sunday during the THISDAY Live programme on Arise Television.
The former JAMB registrar officially handed over the leadership of the examination body to Segun Aina on Friday after serving for 10 years.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier appointed Aina, a professor of Computer Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, as the sixth registrar of JAMB, succeeding Oloyede.
Reflecting on his years in office, Oloyede said he was often deeply troubled whenever he encountered cases of parents actively facilitating examination malpractice.
According to him, candidates are not the primary problem, as many are drawn into wrongdoing by their parents.
“The most painful period of my experience in JAMB has to do with the level of involvement of parents in the organisation of examination malpractice,” he said.
“They are introducing their wards and children to the world of crime. I think most of the candidates are not problematic. They are not the problem. The problem is the parents.
“Every time I was confronted with the reality of what parents are doing, most of the time, I became very emotional about it.
“Most of the time, I feel that how on earth will people hate themselves and their futures to this level. Even if you have deficiency, you won’t want to pass the deficiency to the next generation.”
“For me, it was a fine period (referring to his administration in JAMB). The only lowest period was when I confronted parents over involvement in the planning and introduction of their children and wards into crime (examination malpractice).”
Oloyede also expressed confidence in his successor, saying Aina’s background in computer engineering would enable him to harness technology more effectively to improve the administration of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).