A group of candidates almost missed their rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation (UTME) on Saturday over a possible miscommunication from theJoint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB).
The candidates who couldn’t sit the examination on Friday due to technical hitches at their centres, had their sessions rescheduled for Saturday.
However, upon reaching the CBT centre located at the Sascon International School in Abuja, the candidates found themselves stranded and confused.
The candidate gathered at the entrance of the private secondary school at 1:55 p.m., waiting to be ushered into the hall but found that no exam session was scheduled for 2 p.m., although text messages from JAMB had informed them of the rescheduling.
The students were originally meant to take the computer-based test at 9 a.m. on Friday but were directed to leave, with instructions to look out for a new date. The official complained that the network reception was bad.
“Then, at 5 p.m., I got a text message that my exam date had been changed to 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, which is today. I am here now, and the man at the gate is saying there’s no exam for 2 p.m. here,” Mary Allahnana, one of the candidates, told PREMIUM TIMES.
As she spoke, many other students concurred. They brought out their phones and displayed the text messages from JAMB which showed they were at the right venue at the right time. But the official at the gate insisted that tests at the centre ended by 2 p.m.
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Then, a boy from behind, Salisu Mohammed, noticed the error and began to lament.
The information in the text differed from what was obtainable in the JAMB reprints, the candidates said, explaining that they didn’t bother to double-check on their portals.
Mr Mohammed, the candidate who raised the alarm, said his new centre was Lead British International School in Gwarimpa.
“The text indicated that I needed to be here for the exam. That is why I didn’t bother with what was in the exam slip.
“Where is the Lead British International School? It is already 2 o’clock. Can I make it in time? I doubt it,” Salisu cried out.
Bewildered, other students reached for their slips. Their centres had changed. Everyone began to panic.
“I am not even sure about this, but if there is no exam here, then it’s probably this other one. But look at the time,” Ms Allahnana said repeatedly after noticing the change. Her new centre was Tudun Wada CBT HUB 2, Government Secondary School, Wuse, Zone 4.
PREMIUM TIMES would later confirm, through a telephone conversation on Saturday evening, that Ms Allahnana got to her new centre on time and sat the examinations.
It remains unclear if other candidates made it to their respective centres on time.
Rescheduled examinations
Candidates across the country experienced similar technical challenges on Friday when the examination commenced, drawing the attention of the examination board.
Shortly after inspecting the conduct of the examination on Friday, JAMB Registrar Ishaq Oloyede, a professor of Islamic Studies, assured candidates who missed their examinations due to the technical challenge that the board would reschedule their examinations.
“We appeal to the public to understand this, some centres will fail. I have heard of only one centre that has failed today,” he was quoted assaying by Vanguard.
“By the end of today, I expect about 10 per cent of the centres to have one problem or the other because we know the level of development in different parts of the country. We are not encouraging this, but when it happens, please do not disrupt others.”
Mr Oloyede explained that the affected candidates would have to wait for the board to reschedule their sessions.
“The earliest time they can be scheduled will be after 4:30 p.m. so that those slated for sections two and three can write, and these candidates can now write for session four, and in some cases, they can even be scheduled for the following day,” he said.
A JAMB-appointed supervisor at Tudun Wada CBT Hub, Government Secondary School (GSS), Zone 4, earlier told PREMIUM TIMES that candidates who experienced glitches in other centres have been scheduled to take their examinations by 2 p.m.
The supervisor, who didn’t want his name in print, said the Tudun Wada CBT centre only has three sessions daily, which are at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., and 12 p.m.
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