…demand action after UTME failures

The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has issued a sharp response following the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) admission of technical failures in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), calling the agency’s apology “insufficient” and demanding immediate systemic reforms.

In a statement released by Comrade Isreal Daniel Oghenewogaga, the association’s National Director of Special Duties, NAPS expressed relief at JAMB’s rare acknowledgment of internal errors but criticized the apology as inadequate given the emotional and psychological toll the controversy has taken on students across the country.

“For weeks, Nigerian students have faced shame, mockery, and rejection over the catastrophic outcomes of the 2025 UTME,” Oghenewogaga said. “Now JAMB admits there were lapses — technical errors, procedural failures, and human oversights — but words alone are not enough.”

The fallout from the flawed examination results led to widespread backlash against students, many of whom were publicly shamed or punished by parents and educators under the false belief that they had underperformed.

“An apology cannot rewrite the psychological damage,” the NAPS official said. “Will JAMB’s apology restore the self-esteem that was shattered? Will it reverse the emotional toll on thousands who questioned their intelligence based on false results?”

Citing longstanding concerns about the integrity of the UTME system, NAPS noted that it had previously warned of infrastructural deficiencies, unreliable internet connectivity, and poor supervision at Computer-Based Test (CBT) centers.

“This is more than a glitch; it is a national wake-up call,” said Oghenewogaga. “The Nigerian student did not fail the system — the system failed the Nigerian student.”

NAPS is now demanding urgent action from JAMB and relevant government bodies. Among their key demands:

• A full technical audit of the 2025 UTME system, including a review of affected centers and discrepancies in results.
• Transparent revalidation of all UTME scores.
• The establishment of mental health support channels for students affected by the mishap.
• A structural reform of the UTME process, including exploration of multi-assessment models and aptitude-based evaluations.

“A country that builds examination halls before it builds libraries will always test confusion, not competence,” Oghenewogaga added.

In a message directed at students, NAPS emphasized that the error was not theirs to bear.

“To the Nigerian student: you were never the problem,” the statement read. “You studied. You prayed. You tried. While the system may have faltered, your effort still counts.”

The association also called on national leaders to view this crisis as an opportunity to rebuild trust in Nigeria’s educational institutions.

“This is not just about JAMB. It’s about how we treat the aspirations of our youth,” Oghenewogaga said. “Let this apology not be the end of the story — let it be the beginning of a national transformation.”

As of press time, JAMB has not issued a follow-up statement addressing the specific demands made by NAPS.