Today, the 27th day of June 2022, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) released a circular stating the approval and implementation of computer based test (CBT) for all her professional examinations starting with the Midwifery examination slated for September 13th-16th, 2022.
This decision was reached during the 58th General Meeting of the Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria held on 23rd-24th June.
According to the NMCN, this is in line with global best practices in promoting and maintaining excellence in Nursing education and practice.
The NMCN are prepared for this implementation as they have identified dedicated CBT Centres across the six geopolitical zones of the country where the examination will take place.
Also, there shall be sensitization on the CBT examination implementation strategies at the forthcoming training of the Heads of Nursing/Midwifery training institutions and their focal persons.
It is worthy of note that the CBT examinations will contain theory and objectives questions just as the pen and paper examination used to have.
What is your opinion about this new development? Yay or Nay? Kindly give reasons for your answer.
You have any question with regards to this? Drop them in the comment section.
I think it’s a good idea. Come to think of it, the world is going digital, it’s 21st century and a lot of people and businesses have gone online or going online, so it’s no bad idea to introduce CBT in our professional exams. I will say it’s a good feet for the Nursing profession. Be that as it may, looking at the inadequacy of our system, in terms of poor internet connection and power suppy, council will need to put a lot into consideration to have a functional computerize examination. Also human error and technical error can not be over emphasize given our environment. These factors will need to be soundly addressed to have a functional CBT.
My only concern is having to write the theory part of the exam on the computer, I think that part should really be addressed, I’ve not heard, neither have I seen people write theory exams on CBT, and given our environment it should be addressed.
I was very happy when I saw the circular. I have always been thinking why we aren’t doing CBT in Nigeria. According to international best practices. It’s certainly going to curb examination practice in our society and the best Academically sound Nurses. But my concern is the reality of the theory session. Most individual will not be able to cope with such and this will certainly going to affect the performance of the general students if it is done on the computer. My other concern is network glitch and power supply challenges which I hope should be carefully look into.
Will also want to add that the stress of moving students to a centre in their geopolitical zone may make the whole process look ambiguous. If it is possible to individuals to be able to have the exams on assigned dates that will be better.
Good morning plz my question ❓ is that how will they write easy on CBT and what will be the faith of students in network failure…
Good day, it’s a good idea wanting to digitalize the examination, on the contrary, considering the fact that there is usually network issues, and how quick can student use the computer to answer theory questions with diagrams and tables considering the curriculum of Nursing and midwifery?
CBT to write final exam, it is totally out of it. My question is that do they even want us to excel? No prior test , just a circular and boom CBT final start by June.
They should go to those Nursing school and check how many actually teaches their students ICT if at all they have an ICT lab. They want to use us as a test experiment. It is Soo unfair of them to bring up a system that can fail or flop.
This is first of it’s kind hence, it’s a trail and error technique. The world is developing and this is a great improvement for the NWCN but, considering the professionalism of our field and how important these examinations serves to our careers as nurses or otherwise, we can’t afford to be experimented on. I urge the NWCN to look into this matter again and weigh also the negative impact it will have serve on its students.
It is not easy for a student who know nothing on computer and it’s operating system to type and answer theory questions.And it’s not fair to say they will start teaching students how to operate the system and expected them to learn how to type in months.
Hmmm, this is bound for failure. Typing a theory response in a timed exam will not be viable for students who cannot type quickly. Also, the internet facilities, how reliable are they? I know this is deemed to be a positive development but has it been trialled?
Since it’s CBT, hope it’s just objective questions. Typing theory answers is not going to be easy.
Secondly, what of people with network error? What’s their fate?
The paper three of this exam is practical and no one has said anything about it, so my question is….. Will provision be made for the practical too since obviously we might be writing in a complete different environment we do not know?
It’s a right step in the right direction. But still the theory part needs to be addressed. I haven’t heard of people writing theory exams using computer even in the western world.
The development is a very good for the obj part…but I won’t go well for the theory part and transportation to those geographical areas approved for the exams might be a problem..
This is indeed a great idea and feat.
It will save our trees, save time and cost of marking. But I must say that a lot have to be put in place in order to have a smooth examination.
I believe that the registrar, Dr. Faruk Umar Abubakar can handle everything so well.
Theory part has been what is helping students mostly to pass their exam, but in the aspect of objective if you have felled you have felled but not like that in theory, this should be considered here
CBT exam format is a welcome development.
However, it could’ve been objective only for now, for someone who can not type 60 words in 5minutes it will be a hard nut to crack.
The computer as a course been taught in SON, SOM and University there is no vigorous practicals, so i humbly suggest the Council should drop the CBT theory for now.
Well thank you so much. Anyways it’s a new development which means nmcn has advanced technologically. But I’m highly skeptical regarding this new development and the success of the nursing students in their professional exams. The CBT can effectuate massive failure by either the sudden shutting down of the system or untimely system log-out. Besides the board would have started first with the obj part, then subsequently with the theory part that’s if the outcome of the obj is encouraging. As for me I don’t welcome writing the theory part of the exam on computer. Remember we’re talking about professional exams not semester’s. Thànks.
This is not a good Idea please
How will someone write care plan with it
Generally it’s not a nice idea for theory in
Well, is a welcome development, but the notification came at a short time meaning just few months to the exams and most of the colleges don’t have CBT centers and the ITC course they take are mostly theoretical no practical. So we may likely face difficulties in the first place. So NMCN should make it compulsory for all colleges to have computers for practical, but for the first time we may record failure God forbid.
CBT for professional exams is never a welcome idea… This Wil make student very lazy and will draw a major setback to Nursing in relation to other profession..
We say no to CBT..
Although this is a welcome development, I doubt the feasibility in the aspect of theories. How many students are proficient in typing? Would it be a sustainable development?
This is an innovative action, but I personally think NMCN is not ready to face the tsunami that would happen at the long run.
I also believe that since they cannot do a good job through hand written exams, they would totally fail while utilizing CBT.
The success, mental health and financial state of the candidates is at stake.
NO TO NMCN CBT OPERATION…
I think this new development is not bad. Typing takes more time than hand written exam, handwritten gives the students more opportunities to pour out their knowledge about a particular question than CBT exams. How about digrams, how will student draw? I think this new rule needs another review from the nursing council.
This is too impromptu. It should’ve been planned and publicized earlier like 2years prior to the first practice.
Nursing questions are not like O-level or Jamb that requires lesser critical thinking. Nursing Exams comes with drawings, and even stuffs like care plan which requires graphic input. What will be the fate of people who can’t handle QWERTY KEYBOARD efficiency within the programmed duration or time configured for The exam?
I was very happy when I saw the circular. I have always been thinking why we aren’t doing CBT in Nigeria. According to international best practices. It’s certainly going to curb examination practice in our society and the best Academically sound Nurses. But my concern is the reality of the theory session. Most individual will not be able to cope with such and this will certainly going to affect the performance of the general students if it is done on the computer. My other concern is network glitch and power supply challenges which I hope should be carefully look into.
Will also want to add that the stress of moving students to a centre in their geopolitical zone may make the whole process look ambiguous. If it is possible to individuals to be able to have the exams on assigned dates that will be better.
It’s a great and nice idea but concerning d theory aspect,it will affect us negatively as most of us won’t be able to type fast with the available keyboard as well as writing care plan or even diagram with it.
The CBT will be more effective only if they ask objective or subjective questions rather than adding theory in it,…
Thank u
It’s great development and achievement but the issue of essay need to be addresse. It’s very difficult for the students to write essay section on computer.
This is really not a good idea due to the network issue and power supply.
And coming to the theory part it will affect others negatively because not everyone knows how to type .
To me I don’t think it’s a good idea we are in Nigerian, and we tend to have problem with electricity supply and network connection.
I believe the CBT is a good fresh Idea that will aid in promoting increased computer literacy of students but the reality of write a theory section with diagrams, drawing out care plans on tables and a lot of write ups that require fast typing under 3 hours would be very difficult to achieve due to various reasons like slow typers, inability of one to use drawing apps and difficulties of navigating the computer system to make work orderly, also the issue of unstable network and power supply, we are in a developing country still facing problems with those factors (unstable network and power supply) these can cause a person’s computer to trip off or slow the person’s exam and time given dues to slow, unstable network, this can be a risk factor to students having an unpleasant exam and can also be a risk factor to failure.
CBT can be a positive change if all problems listed above are well sorted out and immediate solutions are available for them, but it can constitute a huge problem and encourage massive failure it not carefully analysed and all proposed issues highlighted above planed for.
I was very optimistic when I read the circular because it makes me feel practicing nursing according to world standard, nurses now days should embrace the world standard practice which should be reflected from the NMCN guidelines as we saw this today. I now believe with the council that everything regarding Exams now has been modified to global practice.
But my mind keep off asking itself on how do we address writing easy with CBT which makes me in another way round confused but please I urge the NMCN to ensure proper sensitation on intending candidates before embarking on such move.
God Council Registrar
God bless Nursing and Midwifery Council Nigeria.
God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Nhmber1: they have to remove the essay part please,
Number 2: why can’t every school carry out the exam in thier verious cbt centers instead of having one center per zone
Announcing that a student would be writing a CBT examination just 2months and some weeks before the exams is rather sudden or I should say it’s impromptu,CBT Examination is a nice innovation,a beautiful idea but has it been tried? Or it’s the students they want to use to practicalize? Is high success rate guaranteed? Or they are not interested in the success of students?Do students have the required knowledge and skills to write exams without any issue? Are there sufficient personnel trained to intervene as quick as possible if issues arises? Does the advantages outweighs the disadvantages? Is NMCN prepared to bear the cost of the and properly rectify issues that would generate from the CBT examinations? If they can give accurate answers to this question they can actually go ahead.
Is a good ideal regarding to the part of objective. But having to write the theory part of the exam on the computer, I’ve not heard, neither have I seen people write theory exams on CBT, especially the timing and network ideal….
This seems like a good idea for nursing to merge up with the world’s standard of development.
But my fear are how do we curb malpractice, how much do knowledge do students have to cope with the essay part that will not result in failure, and how do we overcome the network challenge?
Will they still have opportunities for the OSCE?
This is a very bad idea as you all are putting the future of the students at risk and this issue should be apprehended as soon as possible cause I don’t think the country has the standard to run a CBT based exam right now thanks
It is a good idea for the practical aspect of the exam but not for the theoretical aspect as;
1. Most students are not so good at using the computer and the immediate implementation of this would lead to mass failure
2. The time allotted for this exam is quite tasking even with pen and paper as the participants try to write to their heart’s content to make sure they get the required mark. I must say that this will be more tasking and difficult as the participants might not be fast at typing.
3. There are some questions that require the participants to draw some anatomical diagrams. This would be extremely difficult with a computer.
We understand that the body is trying to grow and develop but we plead that they reconsider this decision as it would affect the zeal of those who wish to join this great body
It is good idea to have CBT exams. But is not even just about the failure of the systems or students might not be quick in typing think of the 36 states writing CBT exams in only 6 places.
Students lives are at risk here while travelling, how about their feeding, accommodations. If only every school will have their CBT exams in their states nothing is wrong in doing that. Am not thinking but I am sure this idea is out of point.
This is a great Idea to make the nursing profession better but the information should have been circulated at least a year to the implementation..
How possible will student cope with time provided will the time be enough and the theory part of it, how will it be, and what will you do to Know the question you didn’t understand earliar and DECIDE to answer it later
There’s no theory part henceforth.
What will you do to the questions you didn’t understand earliar and decide to answer it later,like will you put asterisk to remember it and how will you do it.
If you don’t understand a question, mark what number it is. You can always come back to it even you are done with others.