…to hold Mock UTME March 7 for 260,249 candidates

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

Days after the House of Representatives, in a unanimous motion, directed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to extend the registration deadline for its 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the latter has yet to respond to or effect the directive.

This is as it is set to examine no fewer than 260,249 in the 2024 UTME scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2024, nationwide.

Recall that the lower legislative chamber of the National Assembly had, on Thursday last week, directed JAMB to reopen the registration portal for the 2024 UMTE for another two weeks.

This resolution was a sequel to a motion of urgent public importance moved by Hassan Shinkafi (PDP, Zamfara) during the day’s plenary.

The UTME is a compulsory Computer-Based Test (CBT) taken by all candidates seeking admission into Nigerian public and private tertiary institutions.

Recall also that the portal for registration was open between January 15 and February 26, during which 1,975,926 candidates registered.

Hon. Shinkafi, in the motion, expressed concern that some candidates were unable to register for the examination because of economic hardship.

He noted that failure to reopen the registration portal could lead to the exclusion of many candidates.

The lawmaker argued that the House is aware of “the painful economic situation prevailing in the country, adding that “as a result, many families have been constrained from registering their wards by this timeline.”

Mr Shinkafi noted that “without an extension of the registration, many candidates will not be able to register and participate in the exercise, and that means there will not be a wider coverage and participation in this year’s UTME Examination in Nigeria.”

“Two weeks’ extension will encourage the parents of these candidates to register their children. Importantly, this will reassure the public of the confidence in this current administration in Nigeria,” he added.

When the motion was put to vote by the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, it was adopted unanimously without debate.

Consequently, the House mandated the Committees on Education and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance.

However, days after the House position, JAMB has not responded to or effected the directive of the House of Representatives, even as it has informed candidates of its preparedness to conduct a mock on March 7 for the UTME candidates.

The board, which disclosed this in its weekly news bulletin, released Monday, said: “To this end, all candidates, who had registered for the 2024 optional mock-UTME are to print their notification slips with a view to identifying their centres, venue, and time of the examination, among other details.”

JAMB recalled that it implemented the mock UTME in 2017 to afford it the opportunity to try out innovations and features it intends to use in the course of the main UTME, assess its readiness for the actual examination as well as allow candidates have a hands-on experience on the CBT environment particularly, those who are not conversant with the use of computers and those, who might wish to acquaint themselves with the CBT mode of testing prior to the main examination.

“It is against this backdrop that all candidates who had indicated to take the mock examination at the point of registration are to visit https://www.jamb.gov.ng and click on 2024 Mock-UTME on the MENU button to print their slips after inputing their registration number.

On the day of the examination, candidates are enjoined to be at their centres one hour before the examination for biometric verification, as the examination would be taken with the full complement of traditions that characterise the main examination.

“Therefore, candidates are urged to shun all acts of examination malpractice that could undermine the conduct of the examination, as it would be conducted under strict supervision and CCTV coverage.

“Furthermore, candidates are advised against entering the examination halls with prohibited items such as wristwatches, calculators, flash drives, and phones, among others, the news bulletin read.