Federal Education Ministry Okays Ohafia for CBT Centres
The Federal Ministry of Education has okayed five facilities to serve as computer-based test centres for national examinations at Ohafia, following an inspection of the sites by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, under the auspices of the Ohafia Improvement Union (OIU).
The endorsement is subsequent to recommendations by the inspection team of the Teachers Council. The team had last month inspected Collins Memorial College, Akanu Civic Centre, Amangwu Civic Hall, Amamgwu Ohafia US Library Centre, National Open University, Asaga and Asaga Civic Centre to determine their suitability for the establishment of computer-based test centres.
Collins Memorial College was found to be the most suitable facility, followed by Akanu Civic Centre, Amamgwu Civic Hall, Amangwu Ohafia US Library Centre and National Open University, which ranked second to fifth positions. The sixth facility, Asaga Civic Centre was not recommended as it was not originally designed for Information and Communications Technology deployment and would require structural modifications to pass the test, according to the report of the inspection team.
However, even for the facilities that won the recommendations, the team asked for some additional work to be done before they could be put to use. For Collins Memorial College which “is strongly recommended as the primary CBT centre,’’ it requires additional facilities such as a modern server room with cooling and fire protection devices, a closed-circuit television, power backup in the form of generator and inverter as well as technical staffing, the team said in the report shared with the OIU.
The inspectors evaluated the quality of infrastructure at the various sites, their accessibility by students, the environmental suitability and scalability and their ICT readiness in line with standard CBT centre requirements of the federal government.
The Ohafia Improvement Union expressed commitment to ensure the community meets the additional requirements indicated in the report for the take off of the centres. Computer-based centres are crucial at Ohafia to ease certificate, entrance and recruitment examinations for students who have to travel many kilometres away to access the services. The centres will also boost digital literacy and access to modern e-services for all residents.
“Our target should be to ensure next year examinations will be within Ohafia,’’ Prince Kalu Ikpemini, the President-General of the OIU said, in response to the report. “The major thing is for us to procure the remaining facilities required,’’ he added.
Signed:
Chief Emele Onu,
National Publicity Secretary,
Ohafia Improvement Union (OIU)
