Bwari (FCT)- The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said that the rescheduling of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to March 9 was to enable all stakeholders to prepare adequately.
Mr Fabian Benjamin, the Head, Public Relations unit of the board, made this clarification in an interview with newsmen in Bwari, FCT.
Benjamin said since the board would be conducting the first full Computer-Based Test (CBT), all stakeholders were required to make adequate preparations in order to achieve the desired goal.
He also said that the board had introduced a regulated platform that could help candidates address irregularities during registration.
He explained that the introduction of the platform became necessary due to the wrong spelling of candidates’ names during the registration processes at cyber cafes.
Benjamin explained that the regulated registration platform would guard against this challenge.
“It is regulated in the sense that we are using our Computer-Based Centres which have gone through thorough checks to register candidates to meet our standard.
“How this affects candidates is that they will not be duped and also, they won’t experience the common challenges resulting from wrong exchange of their identification pictures.
“The requirement entails that the CBT centre must have a minimum of 150 computers, a hall, a secured environment, as well as V-Sat, among other things.
“We are hopeful that such irregularities associated with exam registration will not be as it used to be; we held meetings with centre operators to make them know why we are moving to the platform.
“Any centre that carries out registration of UTME, can conduct our exam.”
He allayed the fears of candidates who had yet to know their examination centre, saying that the delay in releasing the centres was a safeguard measure by the board to prevent malpractice.
“Why we are doing that is because, we don’t want a situation whereby candidates will have centres and then begin to device a means to indulge in exam malpractice.
“Candidates writing exam on March 9, will have to go back to the point of registration and print their e-slip where their centres are written, a few days to the exam,” Benjamin said.