UTME Registration: Prospective candidates plead for extension

JAMB

JAMB

Students writing the UTME exam

Barely 19 days to the finish of enrollment for the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), some prospective applicants are requiring an expansion because of the difficulties being experienced when registering.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the competitors and their folks referred to poor reaction of the server at the assigned banks as a major challenge in getting the e-PIN.

They likewise portrayed the whole registration process as frustrating and stressful

Christopher Odugbo, one of the applicants, spoke to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), coordinators of the examination, to further review tyhe registration process.

Odugbo told NAN on Friday at one of the enrollment centers in Ikeja, Lagos that huge numbers of the imminent applicants were not very comfortable with the procedure.

He noticed that the registration centers were insufficient, consequently putting more pressure on the available ones.
“I think JAMB should urgently come to our rescue.

“The centers are not many around here, many of the candidates, who might live very far away from some of these centers face the risk of not being able to register before the closing date.

“The queue is too long such that if one does not arrive at the centers early enough, one may keep trying for as much as one-week.

“Therefore, I think it will be good if JAMB can consider extending the registration time because many candidates are still struggling to even acquire the pins from the banks,’’ Odugbo told NAN.

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Joseph Nnoruom, another hopeful, lamented the struggle and endless queue in buying the e-PIN, especially in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

As indicated by Nnoruom, the one month registration period set by the body may not be possible for a few candidates, considering the difficulties they are confronting.

He said that long lines were the order of the day at the banks and also the Bafuto Registration Center at Egbe, close Ikotun.

“We sometimes leave home as early 3.00 a.m. to ensure we succeed in obtaining the e-PIN, but we still meet alarming crowd at the bank,’’ he said.

Notwithstanding, one of the authorities at an enrollment focus said that the procedure had been smooth.

She included that she never expected that the procedure would turn out the way it was going.

The official, who argued obscurity, said that up until this point, there had not been any difficulties in the registration procedure at the middle.

“At first, when we were going for the briefing for the registration, I was actually skeptical of the whole thing as I was already picking holes.

“Initially, I was skeptical about the success of the exercise, when we went for briefing on the registration procedure.

“But to my surprise, the registration has been going seamlessly.

“We registered 182 candidates on the first day, 132 candidates the second day and it continues like that,’’ the official said.

She said that where the applicants could really be having difficulties was on e-PIN securing.

The Registrar of the Board, Prof. Is-shaq Oloyede, told NAN on phone that the board urged banks and NIPOST to send more tellers to facilitate the enrollment process.

Oloyede had, at a current partners’ discussion at the University of Lagos, guaranteed of a comprehensive and hitch free UTME across the country.

He additionally said that the time of enrollment for the examination had been reduced from three months to one month.

This, as per Oloyede, is to checkmate fakes that as a rule go with long enrollment periods.

NAN reports that the enrollment, which started on Monday, March 20, will close on April 19

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