The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, (JAMB), is seriously considering shifting the dates of the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME), according to the Board’s Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede.
Oloyede who disclosed this on Friday during a virtual meeting with 2021 UTME committee members on Friday, said over 600,000 prospective candidates were yet to register for the examination earlier scheduled to hold between June 5 and 19.
According to the Registrar, so far, 1.1 million candidates have registered for the 2021 UTME, whereas the Board was anticipating 1.9 million candidates to register for the examinations.
The JAMB boss noted that although about 50 per cent of expected candidates have already registered for the examination without problem, there was still the need to carry everyone along, adding that after meeting with stakeholders, they will decide on whether to shift the exam date or not. “The possibility of shifting the exam forward is still high, but that will be determined after our meeting with stakeholders. This is because about 600,000 candidates who have indicated interest in the exam are yet to register. There is a need to give everyone the opportunity” he said.
While apologising for the new initiatives introduced in the 2021 UTME, Prof Oloyede explained that it was not to punish candidates but to rather exposed candidates in the habit of indulging in various forms of malpractices. Oloyede explained that candidates were expected to provide two pictures in the exam script. Pictures of the person who registered for the examinations and that of the person who register for NIN. While calling on candidates to take note of the process, he added that the essence of calling their attention to this fact was to enable them detect any disparity in their registration process.
“We apologise for putting you through some hardship in the registration. The government directed that anyone participating in UTME must have their NIN. This is beyond our control. Those who are yet to register should do so. “The MOCK exam is billed to come up on Thursday. It is an exam meant to test our capability. As you all know, the main exam is coming up on June 5 and 19 2021. “We are meeting with stakeholders today to discuss the issues and on whether we will shift the exam date forward or not. We will brief the media on the outcome of the meeting tomorrow. ”
Shifting the exam date is not the solution, at the meeting we will discuss how some of the problems encountered by candidates would be resolved. It is important that we carry everyone along”, he added. He further disclosed that JAMB has secured about 802 exam centres across the country and 104 centres in towns adding that Lagos State alone has four centres.
