Candidates hoping to register the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in 2019 will now have to register for the examination at accredited Computer Based Test (CBT) centres as opposed to cyber cafes.
Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), Ishaq Oloyede, said that limiting registration of candidates to only approved CBT centres was to end extortion of candidates, mix up of candidates’ data, malpractice as well as for monitoring purposes.
In a statement, yesterday in Abuja, Oloyede said that in order to reduce the incidence of data mix up, prospective candidates will verify their data by fingerprint before it is submitted and printed out as all essential services, creation of candidate profile, uploading WAEC and NECO results, collating biometric details would be done at CBT centres.
He added that JAMB has 718 accredited Computer Based Test (CBT) centres, which will help in spreading digital literacy.
The registrar maintained that the sale of registration forms would span six weeks and the general elections would not affect UTME as the board had adjusted its examination schedule ahead of the election.
He said, “Cybercafés overcharge pupils and mix up data which makes pupils to suffer. They also do services they don’t have the capacity to do. All these, coupled with the fact that there is no way of tracking them because they were not registered are our burdens, so, we have limited registration to CBT centres that can be monitored.
“80 per cent of CBT centres performed well in 2018. We have eliminated those that didn’t do well. 50 centres were sanctioned for registration infractions and against 2019, we have 718 accredited CBT centres which will help in spreading digital literacy.” he said.
