Board clarifies UTME fees

Contrary to speculations, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said there is no plan whatsoever to break faith with applicants on the payment of the reduced Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) fee. The Federal Government had trimmed down the fee from N5,500 to N3,500 but many applicants interviewed said they paid N4,700 each. […]

Contrary to speculations, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said there is no plan whatsoever to break faith with applicants on the payment of the reduced Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) fee.

The Federal Government had trimmed down the fee from N5,500 to N3,500 but many applicants interviewed said they paid N4,700 each. Applicants, however, said the registration procedure was undemanding.

The board’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, agreed that candidates paid N4,700 but said the balance of N1,200 wasn’t part of actual exam fee. He said the exam fee was N3, 500 as approved by the government while “N500 was reading text and N700 centre fee.”

He said candidates paid N6,200 in total before the reduction and CBT centres that charged above N4,700 ‘at the present’ were punished.

A candidate, Patience Adamu, who registered for the exam at JAMB’s Computer Based Test (CBT), center in Kogo, Abuja, said she paid N700 as centre fee and N4, 000 for the UTME form textbook. “I joined a long queue and paid N700 after which I paid N3, 500 for the exam form and another N500.”

Polycarp Jerry from Jere, Kaduna State who also registered in Kogo, said he paid N4,700 in total.

At the Blue Crescent Secondary School, Centre, Sokoto, 20-year-old Adekunle Buhari expressed joy that he registered without a hitch.

“There was no delay despite the large number of candidates coming here; I spent less than 30 minutes to do my registration successfully.”

He added: “We thank the government for reducing the registration fee from N6,000 to N4,700.”

Chinedu Nweke, a final year student of Holy Family Secondary School, Sokoto, said he registered for the exam at N4,700.

He recalled that while registration centers were chaotic in 2018, he said candidates registered smoothly this year.

Fifteen-year-old Mohammad Salim Abdulrasheed said the exercise straightforward.

Three female candidates, Adamu Hafsat Asabe, 22, Zarah Mohammed Sani and Zarah Sani, 21, all testified to simplicity of the exercise this year and expressed joy over the reduction in the registration fee.

The Blue Crescent Centre supervisor, Alhaji Mubarak Raji said the centre received over 100 candidates daily since the start of the exercise.

He said candidates paid N4,700, which covered the form fee, N3,500; N500 for textbook; and N700 registration fee.

In Awka, Anambra State, Miss Margret Okafor, 22, said the registration exercise was effortless but that she paid N3, 500 for the form and N1, 000 to internet cafe operators.

Mabel Nworah, 19, paid N3,500 for form and N700 centre fee.

In Ibadan, Oyo State, candidates paid N3, 500 as UTME form fee, N500 for book and N700 registration fee to CBT centres.

Sola Akande said the registration process was fast but urged government to reduce the fee further.

Another student, Kudirat Ajibola said, “Many of us are from poor families and the government had said UTME fee was reviewed downward recently. Why then are these people insisting on N4,700?”

A parent, Adebayo Akamo who accompanied his child to the Educational Advance Centre, Bodija, Ibadan, said he paid N4,000 for the form.

At FAAN Secondary School near the Nigerian Air Force Base, Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, it was boldly written on the walls that students wishing to buy the UTME form must register with N700 and N4,000 for the examination.

One of the officials at the centre, simply known as Mr Chuks said hundreds of students appeared in the first week of registration.

“We did not have many students that were asked to come back the next day because we could not attend to them. We had security men who helped us to control the crowd,” he said.

Another candidate, Agnes Peter, 15, said, she was asked to send SMS code to 55019, using a fresh SIM, and to create a new email.

She said she was surprised that the fee was increased from N3,500, which she had budgeted for to a much higher amount.

“Here, we still have to appreciate even though the managers of the centre would warn that no more money should be given to the computer operators, yet some of them will first attend to those who had greased their palms. No qualms, since the stress was not unbearable,” she added.