JAMB commences 2024 examination with massive success on day one
The Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) commenced the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) on Friday, in over 700 centres across the country.
The examination started with minimal technical issues compared to the previous year when the first session of the exercise was marred by delays across the 36 states including the FCT when the JAMB examination servers were partially affected by unforeseen challenges.
In Lagos State, which has some of the largest examination centres in the country, reports say many of the candidates were able to write the examination without widespread technical glitches.
Speaking on the conduct of the exercise, the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyode, while fielding questions from reporters, said only one centre has been reported to have come across technical issues.
He noted that the glitch encountered is regrettable but assured that it would be sorted as soon as possible.
“We appeal to the public to understand this, some centres will fail. I have heard of only one centre that has failed today.
“By the end of today, I expect about 10 percent 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.
“It is important to note that when a session fails because of a problem, you cannot bring those candidates to do session two, they will have to step aside, and the headquarters will have to be contacted.
“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,” the JAMB boss stressed.
Speaking on some corporate groups and people who give out scholarships to the highest scorers or supposedly best-performing candidates in a hurry, Oloyede said, “Yes, MTN and other people are giving scholarships to the highest (scorers) but we have always discouraged them, because you scored high in UTME doesn’t mean you are the best because some other factors will come in; the quality of your O Level will be added to it, Post-UTME scores will be added to it;
“If you are going to NDA, your physical exercise will be added to it before we can say that you are the best; before we rank you, so why rank people prematurely?
“You will see somebody saying my son scored 330, and in addition to that, he had 7 A1s. Is he not qualified? He might be qualified when you are ranking people in your village; when it comes to Nigeria, he may be 650 despite the so-called brilliance to you,” he said.
The computer-based examination starts on Friday, April 19, and ends next week.
The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is a computer-based standardized assessment for Nigerian undergraduate students. It is intended to measure problem-solving, analytical thinking, knowledge of scientific concepts, and the significance of each subject studied.
JAMB sets a total of 180 questions. Use of English: 60 questions. Other subjects have 40 questions each.
