“My system lost connection about four times. It eventually stopped working until someone came to help out to fixed the connections appropriately.”
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, or JAMB, launched the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, or UTME, for applicants to tertiary institutions across the country on Tuesday. Candidates, their parents, and guardians had a variety of experiences as they flocked to the testing locations.
Some candidates were fortunate enough to be assigned to centers where things ran rather smoothly, but others had tales of disappointment and annoyance to share.
A CBT facility in Lagos
According to information obtained by AF24NEWS, certain candidates’ time and date requirements have changed.
After finishing the exam on Wednesday, a candidate named Oluwakayode Ayeni informed our correspondent that the dates had changed when he went back to reprint.
“The experience was good, but I didn’t know that my date and time changed. Thank God I used the old print out out. After the exam, I go notification ti reprint that my date has been changed.
“My system lost connection about four times. It eventually stopped working until someone came to help out to fixed the connections appropriately.”
Another candidate Muyiwa Davies lamented that his mouse was not working at all.
“I didn’t first it all realise what was going on, after my time started reading, I was seating until I found that my mouse was not working,” Muyiwa narrated to AF24NEWS on Wednesday morning.
AF24NEWS correspondent
, who monitored the exam at Igando, Okota, the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, and the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka, and found that the conduct of the examination did not record any hitch.
There was no power outage, and the candidates were all taken into the exam rooms at the appointed hour.
Femi Michael, a parent at the LASU center, claimed that despite hearing rumors that some centers had had power outages, LASU was unaffected.
“The university uses this CBT centre for some other things, including their own internal examinations and have put everything necessary in place. My child did not experience any difficulties in writing his papers.
“However, I am surprised that after conducting this examination for several years, the same set of issues and problems still exist in its conduct. By now, JAMB ought to have got over such teething problems such as power outages, sending candidates to far away centres, among others,” he stated
Circumstances in Abuja
Candidates who arrived very early to write the first set of the exam at the Global Distance Learning Institute, opposite the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Business District, Abuja, were disappointed when they could not start at the scheduled time, even though they were all calmly seated and prepared for the exercise.
The center’s invigilator, who only supplied his name as Rilwanu, responded to a question by explaining that the time had been changed by an hour. But he didn’t explain why the shift had occurred.
The invigilator claimed that the reason for the delay was not technical difficulties but rather the necessity to wait for instructions from JAMB in order for the time to be consistent with other centers.
Abdulrahman Balogun, one of the monitors at the center, claimed to have visited a number of centers, including Jikwoyi, Karu, and Distance Learning Institute, and claimed that each of them was a success story.
He said: “This centre (Distance Learning Institute) is supposed to have three sessions at 7, 9 and 11 am, respectively. However, they had some delay; it was not due to technical hitches but just to get the go-ahead from JAMB.
“From the record, the first session in this centre was supposed to have 200 candidates, but 183 were accredited, 16 absentees and one unverified. As you can see, the second batch is already waiting. In all, we have close to 99 per cent success in orderliness and arrangements. Everything is perfect.”
According to the scenario in Osun, Oyo
Students were there at some of the centers in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, as early as 6:30 am, and the first group of students began the computer-based test at around 7am.
At the Excellence Educational Center in Ayekale, pupils were checked in by security officers, notably members of the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), using their exam slips at 7am.
Additionally, the atmosphere remained quiet at the JAMB registration center in the Service Area of Osogbo because security personnel were present to guarantee that the process was carried out peacefully.
According to a student who spoke with Vanguard, the exam went off without a hitch because the computer systems were stable the entire time.
Usman Adebajo, the coordinator of one of the centers, claimed that both private and JAMB-owned centers utilized for the exam had undergone testing to make sure that their computers could withstand any burden placed on them, which is why the exam went smoothly on day one.
A reporter with the Vanguard visited a few centers in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, and noticed that candidates were admitted using biometric verification machines.
However, some applicants who ran into difficulties with the verification procedure stormed the Board’s Ibadan headquarters.
Parents and candidates’ lamentations
Our correspondent who visited Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State, observed that some applicants who took the exam there did not find it to be a pleasant experience.
Due to network issues, the workout was tarnished and they were left swearing.
The sets scheduled to take the exam at 9.30 am and 12.30 pm were unable to access the systems starting at 6.30 am, when the first set of applicants was prevented from taking the test due to a network issue.
One of the frustrated parents told a journalist attached with Vanguard, “My son registered in Port Harcourt among the earliest candidates and to be candid, I never felt comfortable with the arrangement when his details printout mentioned Elele, two local government areas away from Port Harcourt where he registered.
“You won’t believe it, we had to come the night before and stayed in a hotel. We live in Port Harcourt and he was scheduled for the very first set at 6.30 am. I never knew JAMB of today fixes exams for as early as 6.30 am in centres far from a candidate’s place of residence.
“This morning, getting here much earlier before 6.30 am, the children have been made to wait, that there is a network failure they would rectify. But the sets of 9.30 am and 12.30 pm have come in to meet the same challenge. My neighbour has confirmed her daughter who wrote at a Port Harcourt centre has returned home. How frustrating can it get?”
We’ll send you text messages on when you’ll be rescheduled to take your examinations, one of the center’s managers assured the group of agitated students and parents after hours of waiting in vain. You may all return home.
Akin Adewole, who lives in the Ipaja neighborhood of Lagos, expressed regret about his daughter’s situation and claimed he was dumbfounded when he learned that she had been assigned to a facility in the state of Ekiti.
“She was among the first set of candidates to register for the exam. When the candidates were asked to print out their centres at the weekend, I was not expecting what I got. She was posted to Ekiti State from Lagos here she registered. That is unfair and it is more expenses being incurred on transport, accommodation, and feeding among others,” he said.
Assurances by JAMB
When contacted on the plethora of challenges faced by candidates, the spokesman of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said: “The candidates should just exercise patience. No one is going to lose out, we can assure them of that.
”If any candidate is unable to write his or her paper because of system failure or any other factor from our end, we will reschedule such candidates for new dates.
“They will surely take the exam. We are working to ensure everything goes well. There is no cause for alarm.
”The Board is constantly working to improve the conduct of the exam, even though some factors are beyond our control.”
Over 1.6 million candidates are expected to take part in this year’s UTME, which is scheduled to end on May 3.
It was originally supposed to start on April 29, but it was moved up due to the need to wrap up everything before the National Population Commission’s (NPC) upcoming national population census and the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) and National Examinations Council’s (NEC) upcoming senior secondary school leaving certificate examinations.
-All Rights Reserved-
Permission to use any material, including text, still photograph, audio and video from this site is granted subject to permission being formally sought and, if granted, appropriate credit must duly be given to The News Room as the source.
Stay connected, get exclusive updates, and be the first to know about all the exciting things happening. Whether you’re looking for insights, tips, or just want to be part of an amazing community, our WhatsApp group is the place to be!
👉 Don’t miss out. Click the link and be part of something awesome! 🚀
