Candidates who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday lamented the cancellation of their mock examination centres, payment of extra charges for corrections on their examination forms and difficulty in printing exam slips.
This is just as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said that slips could be printed from its website, from candidates’ email and at computer-based test centres/cyber cafes. The board added that some mock examinations centres were cancelled because “they gave us wrong information.’’
Registration for the 2017 UTME ended on Friday with 1,736,571 candidates, including 321 who are visually-impaired.
A candidate resident in Lagos told our correspondent that she was posted to a centre at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State.
She said, “I am not complaining but the examination time has been fixed for 7am. That means I have to be there early on Saturday or rent a hotel room on Friday. The additional cost is annoying.’’
Also expressing his disappointment at the examination location of his daughter, a parent, Mr. Deji Akindele, said his daughter who registered for the UTME in Lagos was posted to a town in Kwara State.
“I have decided that she will not take part in the examination. She will sit for it next year. While she was registering for the exam, her examination town was listed as Igboho/Saki/Ago-Amodu in Oyo State but by the time we printed her exam slip on Thursday, the examination town was listed as Igboho/Saki/Ago-Amodu in Kwara State. It is so confusing. But I can never release her to go to Kwara State. I remember a newspaper story of a girl who died when she went to a town to sit for a post-UTME test,’’ he said.
Another candidate who spoke with our correspondent said that her mock examination centre was cancelled on the examination day, without an explanation.
She said, “I am prepared for the UTME but I am afraid that my centre may be cancelled. Nobody from my centre, Shoms International College, Odutayo, Kilo, Lagos, was able to sit for the mock examination about two weeks ago. We got there on the examination day and a woman told us that it had been cancelled. We waited, thinking that something would happen but nobody did the examination. Up till now, nobody has offered us an explanation and my fear is that this could also happen during the UTME proper.’’
Yet another candidate, who also craved anonymity, complained that JAMB charged an extra N2,500 for his failing to fill his state of origin and local government area on the form. On JAMB website, it stated that “Change of UTME subject combination is free. Changes for Name, Course/Institution, Passport and Date of Birth are 2,500.’’
He said, “When I finished filling my form, I scrolled it up to check if I had missed out some areas and immediately I went back to submit it. I did not know that the value for state of origin and local government area that I filled had been deleted by the system. Immediately I submitted, I noted that the two values are missing and I went on JAMB website where it was stated in, the correction of data section that you have to pay N2,500 for any value not filled.
“It was not my fault. There was no save button on the form and you could not return to complete it once you logged in. I went to Zenith Bank and paid but I still could not correct the error. I went back to the site and discovered that I would be able to effect the correction only after I gained admission. It is not fair because there is supposed to be a save button on the form. I see this as a deliberate act to extort Nigerians.’’
However, the Head of Information, JAMB, has said that corrections are done immediately payment is made at the bank. He added that values such as change of course/institution, gender, date of birth, name as well as state and local government area had to be paid for.
“There are some values, such as the date of birth that cannot be changed no matter how much you paid. Correction of subject is free. If you want to sit for Physics and you filled Mathematics, you can change it. But every other correction is not free. And, once you pay, the error is corrected. It is not true that you have to wait for admission to correct the errors.
“Most candidates who have yet to print their examination slips have misplaced their emails. But you can print from JAMB’s website, from your email and from CBT centres for N100. As for the mock examination, it was meant to test our system. About three or four centres were cancelled because they gave us wrong information. We did not charge for mock examination,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, has said a syndicate at the Federal Government Science Technical College, Orozo, Abuja, impersonated the board and demanded N200 from each candidate to reprint examination slips.
Oloyede, on Tuesday at a briefing on the 2017 UTME, said he called the phone number, which sent the fraudulent text message from the college, and the culprit was visibly shaken.
The registrar, while noting that JAMB would go tough on fraudsters, said the examination would hold in 624 centres across the country, with 10 invigilators attached to each centre.
He said, “We urge all candidates not to fall for the ploy of fraudsters who are out there to defraud them. A case was at the Federal Government Science Technical College, Orozo, which kept sending bulk messages to candidates to come and reprint their slips, claiming to be from JAMB.
“This message from FGTC Orozo, which claimed to be from JAMB, reads thus… ‘Dear UTME candidates, visit Federal Science Technical College Orozo CBT Centre for your JAMB examination slip, reprint or call this number for enquiry.’
“I myself called the number and challenged the person. He immediately denied when he knew who I was and said they were doing the reprinting free. But when I asked him to give the phone to any nearby student, the student confessed that he had paid N200 to have his slip reprinted. I therefore assured the fraudster that I would mention him at his briefing and he should come over and defend himself.
“Candidates are hereby informed that there will be no rescheduling of any examination. The UTME shall begin on May 13 and end on May 20. The examination will hold simultaneously in 624 centres in Nigeria. Each centre has no less than 10 invigilators.”
Oloyede said a total of 1,736,571 had registered to take the examination, urging candidates to desist from malpractices as each centre would be monitored by the Closed Circuit Television.
“A total of 321 visually impaired candidates registered for this year’s examination and adequate arrangements have been provided to ensure that they partake in the examination,” he added.
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