The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Saturday commenced the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) across the country, with first batch of candidates sitting for the Computer Based Test (CBT) examination.
According to JAMB, over 1.3 million candidates successfully registered in the examination that is expected to will run till 3rd July, 2021.
The are concerns over some candidates who could not successfully complete their registration exercise early due to the challenges of National Identification Number (NIN) which was made compulsory for the 2021 registration.
But JAMB, however, assured that provisions made to accommodate interest of such candidates.
Candidates scheduled for the first day converged at various CBT centres across the country alongside their parents and guardians in order to be accredited accreditation in order to participate in the examination.
Almost every candidate at all the Jamb CBT center monitored by our correspondent came with a chaperone.
Some parents who spoke with The Guardian noted that they accompanied their children to the examination centres because of the security situations across the country.
JAMB registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, has repeatedly reassured candidates and other stakeholders that adequate plans have been made to ensure seamless exercise.
He said the Board remains committed to the credibility of the system, hence it will consider the interest of candidates particularly those having NIN challenges.
In a related development, the Lagos Zonal office of JAMB has said that 95% of candidates for the 2021 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) met National Identification Number (NIN) compulsory requirement.
The update follows an earlier notification by JAMB to applicants that those who fail to obtain their NIN will be unable to complete their registration and as such will not sit for the examination.
The disclosure which was made by JAMB’s Acting Director, Mr Shittu Billiaminu in Lagos, stating that the board had consistently worked with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure all candidates who wished to write the examination got their NIN.
JAMB Acting Director pointed out that the board would organise a mop-up examination for candidates who had other pending issues that had yet to be resolved and could not write the examination when slated.
He said, “However, a mop-up exam which the date is yet to be announced, will be conducted.’’
The JAMB boss urged parents to allow their wards to handle JAMB registration themselves to ensure a proper registration process and better understanding between their wards and the board.
He said, “One of the challenges we have is that parents don’t allow us to rest. They knock on the JAMB gate every time and when we grant them access they cannot answer the questions we ask. When JAMB requires the profile code of their wards, some of them don’t know it. In fact, we have made it a policy to deal with candidates directly.’’
The acting director noted that JAMB would continue to uphold the standard.
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