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  • 25 persons arrested for extortion, selling UTME registration materials

    25 persons arrested for extortion, selling UTME registration materials

    Twenty-five persons have been arrested across the country for illegally selling registration materials for the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates.

    Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) RegistrarProf. Is-haq Oloyede said this at weekend.

    The culprits were apprehended by a combined team of JAMB’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Police, following a tip-off.

    Among the registration materials being sold by them included copies of the UTME e-Brochure and e-Syllabus.

    The agency said the e-Brochure and e-Syllabus, which were meant to be free, were being sold by the culprits as high as N800 each nationwide, while at the same time also extorting money and inflating cost of registration from candidates.

    Oloyede, in an interview with reporters in his office in Abuja, said the people that were caught are those “doing what they are not supposed to do”.

    He said: “Our quality assurance unit, particularly the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit had to go out to see what is happening, following reports of extortion. We were having reports that candidates are paying more than the N5,500 that is required. The perpetrators have been cautioned and are presently under surveillance.

    “For many of them that have been caught, I don’t think they will want to be caught for the second time in the future after serving the severe punishments awaiting them.

    “We keep on telling people that they are to pay just N5,500, which is N5,000 to JAMB and N500 for the book (e-Brochure and e-Syllabus) and that is all. But for the centre where they register, the owner of the centres will get a maximum of N700. We have arrested about 25 persons, all over the country. They are those who are doing what they are not supposed to do, by charging the candidates higher than expected. They will not escape justice, they will appear in court.”

    According to him, JAMB has not asked anybody to pay extra money or asked anybody to go to any business centre for the creation of profile.

    The JAMB registrar said the banks and Computer-Based Test centres had reached an agreement with JAMB that they would create the profile for the candidates.

    He said: “And whether you go to the banks, NIPOST or anywhere to buy the pin, it is part of their responsibility to create the profile for the candidates. Nobody is expected to pay more than what we have specified. But what we have found out is that many people are gullible. What we have done is that the ACTU had gone out and raided the centres. We found out that many of the centres are playing on the ignorance of the candidates. We have advertised in 10 national newspapers, yet they still allow themselves to be extorted.”

    Oloyede faulted claims by many of the candidates, who have the impression that it would be better for them to register only in JAMB-owned centres.

    “It is not true. Whether you register at the JAMB centres or in any accredited centres, there is no difference.

    “People are saying that there is poor connectivity. I don’t know what they mean by that. May be, they are using old terms. Many of the business centres, who want us to return to the old practice or those who are producing the scratch cards and want to continue extorting money from people are the ones echoing this noise and creating unnecessary problem for the candidates,” he said.

  • UTME: North-East candidates apprehensive over slow pace of registration

    UTME: North-East candidates apprehensive over slow pace of registration

    Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) prospective candidates in the North-East on Saturday expressed concern over the slow pace of registration process, saying most of them might miss out if the situation did not improve.

    They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu, Bauchi, Gombe, Dutse and Yola that they had been facing series of challenges since registration commenced two weeks ago.

    They said they were worried that with only 30 days earmarked for the exercise and the threat by the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) not to extend the days, there was the possibility of a lot of candidates missing the examination.

    Ali Musa, a candidate in Damaturu, said many of them experienced system failure and could not complete their registration.

    Another candidate, Halima Sani, said her ordeal started with the banks and the poor feedback from the system.

    “The banks open by 9.00a.m and it takes long before you finish with them because of the volume of customers.

    ”We also face some challenges at the Yobe State University registration centre.

    “Many of us are yet to complete the exercise because of poor system and feedback from the JAMB portal” Halima said.

    Some parents interviewed called for reversal of the registration process to the old system, just as others called for extension of the deadline.

    One of the parents, Babale Audu, said one of the challenges faced was the rejection of pin numbers by the JAMB portal after payment of the registration fee.

    “My daughter was the first to create her profile at the Yobe State University centre in Damaturu but after paying the registration fee at the Union Bank and acquired a pin number, the JAMB portal failed to verify the pin for her to commence registration proper.

    “Many other candidates encountered the same problem and had been asked to await the response of JAMB after complaints had been lodged.

    “This is the second week of registration now and they are still awaiting the response; time is fast running out and they may likely miss the mock JAMB coming up on April 8, which is very important.

    “Worse still, there is the prospect of their missing the JAMB proper itself if care is not taken,” he lamented.

    Candidates in Bauchi also described the registration process as being “too cumbersome and frustrating.

    One of them, Istifanus Emmanuel, said it took him many days to create his profile at a business centre, and another two days to make payment in the bank to obtain pin number.

    Miss Helen Bale, another candidate, told NAN that she had piled up stress since the commencement of the registration.

    “The process is very stressful; there are a lot of people who want to write the examination; you can see the crowd in the queue,” she told NAN at the banking hall of Jaiz, one of the banks collecting payment for registration.

    Mr Raphael Ola, operator of a business centre in Bauchi, said they attended to an average of 20 prospective candidates daily, creating profile at the cost of N300 per person.

    He said that because of the stress involved as a result of poor network service, the cost was raised to N500.

    “We register an average of 20 people, depending on the network. If the network is fast, the work is quicker, but if it is slow, it will be delayed.

    “Today, the network is bad so I spend longer time waiting to get approval from JAMB to create each profile,” he said.

    In Gombe, candidates and business centre operators are also lamenting the registration process.

    A candidate, Emmanuel Aniebola, said that the process was not only cumbersome and stressful, but also difficult to follow without encountering any hiccup.

    “After experiencing stress in the café’ creating profile, you go to the bank to join unending queues for payment and generation of pin numbers.

    “Sometimes, poor network makes it difficult to access the JAMB portal and your fate remains in the balance,” he said.

    Another candidate, Mrs Queen Daniel, said she had spent six days trying to create her profile, which was just the preliminary stage of the registration process.

    She called on the authorities concerned to rectify the problem to enable them complete on time.

    Malam Abdullahi Muhammad, operator of a business centre in Gombe, told NAN that they were facing challenges of poor network in trying to access the JAMB portal.

    He said they were able to register less than 200 prospective candidates since the commencement of the exercise two weeks ago.

    He advised JAMB to upgrade its portal to enable the fast-tracking of the process, as well as reduce the hardship faced.

    Meanwhile, apart from complaining about the slow process, candidates in Dutse said registration centres in the state were very few.

    A candidate, Nura Muhammad, said that because of the dearth of the centres, registration was very cumbersome.

    “You have to leave your house very early in the morning to the center just for creation of profile and there is no guarantee of getting it completed that same day,” said Mohammed.

    Another candidate, Tanko Musa, said he spent almost three days before he was able to create his profile.

    On his part, Ibrahim Mohammed complained of exploitation by operators of cafe’, adding that they (operators) were taking undue advantage of the situation to raise their charges arbitrarily.

    In Yola, the major challenge is poor internet services, according to some candidates.

    Usman Munkaila , a candidate, told NAN that for the past seven days, he had been ‘struggling’ to get registered, without success.

    Another candiate, Charity Bukar, from Numan Local Government area, described the new registration process as “punitive”.

    Bukar said she started the registration process seven days ago but could not make any headway due to poor network.

    They both called on the authorities concerned to review the process to ease things.

    In his reaction, Malam Buba Gashuwa, JAMB coordinator in Adamawa, confirmed the challenge of poor internet service in the five registration centres in the state.

    “We have enough personal, registration equipment and security operatives to control the crowd; the major challenge is poor internet network, which is seriously delaying and affecting the entire exercise in the state,” he said. (NAN)

  • JAMB: we only modified Computer-Based Test for UTME

    JAMB: we only modified Computer-Based Test for UTME

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said yesterday it had not dumped the use of Computer Based-Test mode for its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The agency, in a statement yesterday by its spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in Abuja, said the clarification became necessary  following a report that JAMB had dumped the use of CBT for eight keys.

    The statement reads: “The headline was not only misleading, but capable of causing panic, distortion and confusion in the minds of Nigerians, particularly the candidates planning to take the UTME examination of a well-conceived CBT examination, which the Board was consolidating on the gains and feat recorded.

    “This report was disturbing because more than 10 other journalists were there at the retreat, where the eight keys intended to make the navigation of the examination easy and friendly for first time user of computer or any electronic device was restated.

    “In our attempt to make CBT friendly,  the board introduced the use of 8 keys without a mouse . This we have explained to Nigerians and all stakeholders at the board’s strategic planning retreat on supervision and evaluation of the conduct of the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination ( UTME ) in Kaduna,  where we had the privilege of having over a hundred distinguished scholars from the academia, civil society and other critical stakeholders.

    “At the meeting, the JAMB Registrar restated the board’s determination to continue to innovate on policies that will ease the phobia for computer-based test. One of which is the introduction of the use of 8 keys without a mouse.

    “We see this  embarrassing caption as one of those things that happened in every human endeavour. The question we are asking is on what platform will the 8 keys be placed?

    “In view of this, we call on all Nigerians to disregard this  report and to appeal to all stakeholders to continue to support our drive towards excellence.”

  • JAMB may reduce UTME exams duration – Registrar

    JAMB may reduce UTME exams duration – Registrar

    The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, on Wednesday said the agency may reduce the timeline for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) from three hours to two hours.

    He also said the question papers will be uploaded five minutes to the examinations in order to check malpractice.

    He, however, confirmed that about 300,000 candidates might sit for the mock UTME examinations on April 8 which will be used to test run its new technology to make its examinations easier for students.

    Oloyede unfolded JAMB’s plans at a Strategic Planning retreat on Supervision and Evaluation of 2017 UTME examinations.

    He said: “As for the 2017 UTME, it is likely we reduce the duration of the examinations. We are looking at two hours for the examinations instead of the present three-hour timeline. This is in line with international best practices.

    “As for the candidates, for their age, the maximum time they can sit for examinations is two hours. Even in terms of international standard, for primary school pupils, the maximum time for examinations is between 45minutes and one hour.”

    The Registrar also said the “questions will be uploaded about five minutes to the examinations” in order to check any leakage or malpractice.

    He said JAMB has embraced new technology which will make the UTME comfortable to write by students in privileged environment and those in rural areas.

    He added: “On April 8, we are going to do the rehearsal of the technology through mock UTME which we are going to conduct.

    “From the general feedback on the adoption of the Computer Based Test mode, we have noted the challenge of low level computer literacy for some candidates, especially with the phobia for the mouse. This has been responsible partly for calls by some people for reversal to the Paper and Pencil Test mode.

    ” In order to ensure equity and level playground for all candidates taking the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the Board has designed a system that will allow candidates use only eight keys without the use of the mouse.”

     

  • Candidates with awaiting result can write UTME – JAMB

    Candidates with awaiting result can write UTME – JAMB

    Candidates who are awaiting their O’Level results can seat for the unified tertiary matriculation examinations (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has said.

    JAMB spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, made the clarification in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja.

    Dr. Benjamin also said the board would not confirm any admission for candidates with awaiting result.

    He said this would enable JAMB grant admission to only qualified candidates who are ready to advance their educational pursuit in tertiary institutions, conserve resources and also provide credible data.

    He advised candidates to upload their O’level results on JAMB’s website before the end of August this year.

    Mr. Fabian said: “Candidates with awaiting results are eligible to seat for our examination. They are eligible to register for our examination and seat for our examination. However, the board will not confirm any admission for any candidate with awaiting result.

    “All candidates who are desirous of tertiary education are to upload their O’level result on our site. Don’t forget, this O’level result is also a major requirement for admission among other requirements.

    “What we expect is that after obtaining your O’level result you go to our website you upload it. At the point of admission it is expected that they would have uploaded their O’level results on our website before the end of August.

    “We expect that by August, any candidate that does not have his or her result uploaded by end of August is not eligible for admission. We have met with WAEC, NECO and other examination bodies and told them this is the direction we are going.”

    He said the organisation discovered that most of the 1.5 million candidates who seat for its UTME annually do not have the necessary requirements for admission.

    “We have a reasonable number that are not actually qualified for this exam and are competing for spaces they are not qualified for.

    “We don’t want to be doing admission for candidates that are not qualified to be admitted. It is a waste of resources, it distort our data. We discovered overtime that most of the time when these candidates are admitted they don’t meet the requirements.

    “We want to be sure (of) who we are admitting into the tertiary institution so that at the end of the day if we say 3000 students are admitted in University A, Polytechnic A and Colleges of education A, our data will truly reflect 3000 candidate in that particular institution,” he said.

    He added that candidates, who are not computer literate, have a choice of applying for a UTME mock examination at a fee of N700, 00 nationwide.

    Benjamin explained that the UTME mock examination was optional and aimed at allowing students have a feel of the Computer Based Test (CBT), especially those ignorant of the CBT process.

     

     

  • PTI applicants for UTME

    Applicants who want to study at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun, Delta State are now to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has listed the institute in its brochure in line with the Federal Government’s directive to ensure uniformity in admission processes into all tertiary institutions.

    The institute’s Deputy Director of Public Relations, Mr Brown Ukanefimoni, said PTI was established to train skilled technologists and technicians required for oil production.

    The institute awards National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in diverse fields related to oil exploration and processing. Ukanefimoni said the government’s planned to ensure sanity in the admission process.

    Applicants hitherto sat for entrance examinations conducted  internally by the institute. They were were conducted in Delta, Lagos, Rivers, Enugu, Sokoto, Kaduna, Jigawa and Abuja, the Federall Capital Territory. The HND applicants only went for interviews conducted by the institute’s management.

    With the development, Ukanefimoni said applicants who pick PTI as their first choice would be admitted through UTME, adding that the institution would conduct entrance examination to make the admission competitive.

    He said the institution would retain one-on-one interview as part of the criteria for HND programme.

    Students’ Affair Officer, Mr Ajima Jackson, welcomed the decision, but said it would affect the institute’s Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR).

    He however, added: “This will definitely improve the exposure of PTI more and also make mobilisation for National Youth Service easier.”

  • Stakeholders laud JAMB’s innovations to curb sharp practices

    Stakeholders laud JAMB’s innovations to curb sharp practices

    Stakeholders in the education sector have commended the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for its innovations to curb sharp practices in its 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
    The stakeholders, however, expressed their opinions in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
    They said that the examination body should go further by applying technology to monitor happenings at the official centres aside from the other security measures put in place.
    The Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshals International (EEMI), Mr Ike Onyechere, applauded the board’s plan to organise mock examination for prospective UTME candidates, saying the innovation will help to eliminate malpractice in all its ramifications.
    “On the issue of writing mock exam, that is a very good idea, it will eliminate a lot of problem.
    “It will also help the board to know the centres that are really ready and have the facilities.

    “Unlike what is happening in other exam centres for post primary exit exams, you find that the centres do not have the facilities and they are not well equipped.
    “Some of them are not even centres; some of them are miracle centres.
    “If they do this inspectorate initiative, they will be able to know those that are qualified, and where there are problems,’’ he said.
    Onyechere also expressed satisfaction with the restriction of the sale of the form to one-month duration, adding that this would encourage candidate to brace up sufficiently to the demands of the board.
    He was optimistic that this year’s JAMB exam would be an improvement and would make candidates do things in a more organised manner.
    Mr Shittu Obassa, a former school teacher and parent, said the innovation introduced by the JAMB would help in curbing various scams associated with the exam.
    “A lot of people had hitherto used the opportunity of this Computer Based Test (CBT) to exploit unsuspecting and naïve students.
    “ The CBT requires familarisation and if you are unable to familiarise yourself with the process, when it is time to do the exam proper, you may have challenges and that may lead to complete failure of the exam.
    “ But now that the JAMB registrar has introduced things like the mock examination and CCTV cameras to monitor the whole process at the centres, it is a very good one that requires support from the students and parents.’’
    Obassa, however, was of the opinion that the one-month time frame for the registration was too small and called on the board to extend it by another month to ensure everyone is duly registered.
    He said factors such as proximity to banks and CBT centres, particularly for people in the rural areas must be considered.
    Also, Mrs Adekemi Jegede, Assistant Headmistress, Methodist Elementary School, Oke Omi, Osun, appealed to JAMB to increase the number of centres for the exams as it was not enough to accommodate the candidates.
    Jegede said it would be good if the board could use the mock exams to test run and ascertain if those centres would be enough to carry registered students in the upcoming exams.

  • JAMB registration is now for one month

    JAMB registration is now for one month

    …Don’t pay for MOCK examination – JAMB

     

    The Registrar Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, Prof Isaq Oloyede has said that registration for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME is no longer for three month but one month as he says that interested candidates should not pay for the Mock examination.

    He said that registration is now for one month because they want to eliminate all the ills associated with prolonged registration.

    According to Oloyede registration starts on the 20th of March and ends on 19th of April as he added that there will be an optional mock (Trial) examination for those who registered for it on the 8th of April.

    Speaking during an interactive session with stakeholders from the 36 states of the federation  including -transporters, state coordinators, banks, computer Based Test, CBT operators and telecommunication companies, he said the interaction was necessary so that everybody involved in the preparation will be adequately informed and material distribute all over the country.

    He said; “The examination proper starts on the 6th to 20th of May and we have put in place facilities to make the registration easy. For instance, as a student creates his profile on his cell phone, we will automatically send the e- syllabus and brochure to the student’s e-mail. So even before going to pay, he has all the materials that he will need for registrations.

    “And we are also telling the CBT centres not to extort students as we are asking students not to pay now for the newly introduced MOCK examination. You will pay for the MOCK examination at the CBT centres where you are posted. When you apply for MOCK examination we are not charging for anything because we want to use it as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR but the CBT owners will be allowed to charge N700 for the MOCK and it is at that point and to them that you will pay.”

    Advising students not to do cash transaction, he said they should use their ATM “and if you want to use cash, go to the bank so that you will not be extorted. Also, don’t give any of your pin to anyone because there are people out there that want to take advantage of your naivety. It is important to keep all your passwords so that you do not unduly expose them to those who want to extort you.”

    On admission for the blind, he said he cannot say that the blind will get automatic admission after they pass the examination but can appeal to the universities just the way they were appealed to the last time.

    “What we did this year was to appeal to them to admit all the qualified blind candidates and we were obliged; so all the blind candidates who were qualified have been granted admission by the universities.

    Next year we will still appeal to them to cooperate with us as they did the last time because that is the only thing we can do,” he said.

    He also explained that JAMB has approved more than 600 centres across the nation and across public and private centres but added that they do not accredit any association. “There is no association that we have accredited for CBT centre. Every individual CBT centre is treated as owner of CBT centre because somebody accredited this year may not be necessarily accredited next year,” he added.

     

  • Ex-Rep to buy 1,000 UTME forms for youths

    Former House of Representatives member and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant Bimbo Daramola, is to buy 1,000 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) forms for Ekiti indigenes.

    The move, according to the APC chieftain, is to relaunch Ekiti to an enviable height in the education ladder and to restore the old glory of the state in education.

    At a press conference tagged: Teaching how to fish, Daramola said the initiative would help students from poor homes get admission into higher institutions this year. He pointed out that youths needed to acquire education to be relevant in the 21st Century economy. He said the initiative would open vistas of opportunities for Ekiti youths.

    Daramola said he regretted the dashing of hopes of many young people in the state by poverty, saying that many had resorted to peasant farming and commercial motorcycle riding as means of livelihood.

    He said the initiative would be carefully executed across the 133 towns in the state to promote scholarship and hard work.

    He said: “Ekiti people benefitted, in no small measures, from the free education policy initiated by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1955. Those who had resigned to consistent farming embraced the policy and many later became great academics.

    “But, at the time Ekiti people were believed to be the best in education. This glory is gradually fading away. I believe no effort should be spared to reignite the flame for education among our youths. Ekiti cannot afford to lay back in education because that was the only flourishing industry we are known for.

    “It is glaring the present government in Ekiti has degraded and debased education by promoting tokenism and poverty-compliant scheme called stomach infrastructure. Little wonder, many of our graduates and young school leavers no prefer Okada riding to seeking admission for higher learning.

    “But time has come to rescue our youths. Ekiti is rich in human resources and this spirit must not be allowed to diminish.”

  • UTME holds in May

    The Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, on Thursday said the 2017/2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) will hold in May.

    Oloyede, who was speaking at the 2017 Nigerian Academy of Letters Annual Lecture in Abuja, said there was delay in the sales of the forms due to some logistics.

    He said the board eliminated the use of scratch cards because many students were victims of extortion from cybercafé attendants.

    Oloyede said the board was putting in place strategies that would ensure hitch-free conduct of the examinations.

    He added that the board had consulted with relevant examination bodies to ensure there was no clash in any examination.

    The JAMB chief said, “We have observed that people are selling fake forms but what we are doing is to try to sanitise the system and as soon as that is done we will start selling the forms.

    “In any case, JAMB has invited other examination bodies, there will be no clash but we want to hold the exams when it is appropriate.

    “You also know that if we conduct the examination in March, the result will come out almost immediately but the result cannot be used until August or September.

    “So, we have to keep the results and that will give room for people to be thinking it’s possible to upgrade.

    “But, if we conduct our examination very close to when the result is needed the possibility or perceptions for upgrading will not be there.

    “We need to reassure stakeholders that those selling fake forms are gone. We are not going to sell out forms through the other process.”

    NAN