The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced plans to introduce Facial Biometric Verification (FBV) in the conduct of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
According to the Board’s weekly bulletin released on Monday, the move was part of efforts to tackle impersonation, examination malpractice and restore greater integrity to the examination process.
JAMB said the planned transition marks another major step towards strengthening biometric identification and tightening security around the UTME. This will feature the Board partnering with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to verify candidates through live facial recognition before they are allowed to sit the UTME.
The Board said candidates seeking to take the examination would undergo live facial verification through an application, with the verification result forwarded to NIMC. The identity management agency would subsequently return a code to JAMB to either affirm or reject the candidate’s identity claim.
The Examination body informed that it would initially retain the existing 10-fingerprint biometric format alongside the live facial verification system.
It however hinted that the facial verification technology would eventually replace the use of One-Time Passwords (OTPs), while fingerprint verification would be gradually phased out within the next two to three years.
To facilitate the transition, JAMB said it was already putting measures in place to ensure that all accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres were equipped with appropriate Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and that personnel were adequately trained.
The Board explained that facial biometric verification uses unique facial features to establish a person’s identity, offering advantages over conventional biometric methods such as fingerprint and iris scanning.
