Mixed reactions over UTME registration

Candidates reportedly faced a number of challenges during biometric registration exercise of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) nationwide which included delay due to system failure, personal recognition problems, as well as extortion among others. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had earlier decided to use the National Identification Number (NIN) issued by […]

Candidates reportedly faced a number of challenges during biometric registration exercise of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) nationwide which included delay due to system failure, personal recognition problems, as well as extortion among others.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had earlier decided to use the National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in the 2020 exercise to at least forestall obvious biometric challenges and exam fraud. However, this short lived decision had to be suspended by both the board and NIMC due to technical hitches and congestion few hours to the commencement of registration which was scheduled to hold between January 13 and February 17.

In 2019, many applicants with biometric problems were transported to the JAMB headquarters in Abuja where they wrote the exam.

In the meantime, applicants are said to be pushing their ways through packed crowds at banks and CBT centres to register. Others are finding it difficult to create profile code using the SMS.

One candidate said she paid N4,000 for the UTME form at a bank but could not complete her registration at the JAMB CBT centre in Kogo, Abuja, due to the presence of a huge crowd. The candidate, who was accompanied by her mother to the centre, said “I will go back home and return here early tomorrow to register.”

There were also complaints of extortion by official which JAMB spokesman Dr Fabian Benjamin said would not be tolerated.

He said an agent of one of the board’s online payment outlets in Kogo, Abuja, was arrested for allegedly charging registration fee higher than the approved price of N4,000.

“The person was arrested for charging higher price; instead of N4,000, he was found to have collected between N4,500 and N5,000 from candidates. The suspect has returned all monies to the candidates and will be prosecuted. Also, the agency he is working for has been banned from handling the exercise, including forfeiting its initial money deposited with the board as part of the conditions for the exercise.”

He said JAMB CBT centers always experience congestion at the beginning of registration exercises because “candidates have reposed a lot of hope on our officials.”

A candidate, Abel Simon, at a CBT centre in Murtala Muhammed Way Jos, said he could not register on time due to system failure.

Simon said his fingerprints have not been scanned, adding that the challenge, coupled with erratic internet connectivity made the centre operators to reschedule registration day for many candidates.

Another candidate who gave her name as Janet Ibrahim said she also faced poor system connectivity and delay due to overcrowding “thereby making everything stressful.”

She said she was still trying to create a ‘profile’ using SMS code but did not receive a reply after several attempts.

Our reporter who visited Lagooz Computer Based Test Centre, in Lagos, observed that there was low turn-out of candidates.

The CBT administrator, Obinna  Mkpuma, said that attendance was low because the registration exercise had just started. “On Wednesday, we had about 65 candidates here, today (Thursday), we have had over 30 candidates but if you come here by Saturday, you may find over a hundred candidates,”

According to him, the registration had been smooth so far. He disclosed that JAMB gave 20 access systems to the centre for the registration exercise, which means only 20 people can login per time.

“Unlike before when JAMB gave more systems, this time around, we were given only 20 access systems. In spite of that, the registration process has been fast and hitch-free. The only delay we experience is from candidates who did not create their profile code before coming to the centre and also those who do not have functional e-mail addresses.

“In such cases, we have to go back to open e-mail address for such candidates, and also create profile code before we continue the registration process. So, this causes delay sometimes, otherwise, in a situation where everything needed is made available, the registration process takes less than 10 minutes,” he said.

According to him, “Candidates are expected to create profile code by texting SURNAME space FIRST NAME space OTHER NAMES and send to 55019 from their mobile phone. The candidates will receive on his/her phone SMS notification with 10 digit profile code,” he explained.

A candidate who gave her name as Dorcas Makinde described her registration process as very smooth and stress free, saying the only thing that delayed her was the fingerprint scan, because her thumb was wet. “I created my profile code before coming and I had a functional e-mail address, so the process was easy and smooth for me,” she said.