The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it will not compromise on the standard of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), irrespective of pressures from any quarters.
According to Dr Fabian Benjamin, the board’s Head of the Media and Information, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
It was reported that the board registered over 1.8 million candidates for the on going 2016 UTME, which will commence on Feb. 27.
According to Benjamin, he said that the conduct of the examination, which ends on March 19, had so far been successful, despite few technical hitches recorded in some centres.
He also said that, some persons, despite the board’s efforts in ensuring standard and global best practices in the conduct of its examination, are working hard to destroy it.
He also added that,“Our examinations conducted on the Computer Based Test (CBT) platform are meant to be carried out only in centres with the full complement of all indices needed for the success of the examination.
He also said that,“We are worried by plans by a faceless group, under the aegis of education consultants, to stage a protest in Lagos over some challenges encountered in the conduct of the ongoing examination.
He said,“We believe that this group of people are biased as they are owners of some of the examination centres that were lacking basic facilities for the successful conduct of our CBT,’’ he said.
According to Benjamin, the board had approved centres provided by these individuals to be used for the 2016 exercise.
He regretted that some of the centres were not conducive as most of the computers and other backup facilities provided were faulty.
He also said that the development caused a major challenge in the conduct of the examination but for the timely intervention of the officials of the board that were on ground.
He said that the development was later discussed with the owners of the centres and they showed understanding as they also witnessed the difficulties the board went through.
Benjamin also urged Nigerian youths not to allow themselves to be used by these persons to achieve their selfish motives.
Benjamin also advised candidates with genuine complaints not to hesitate to visit to the board’s offices nationwide for prompt attention.
