2017 UTME: Candidates Decry Poor Internet At CBT Centres, Others Laud JAMB
As the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) began its 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), candidates commended JAMB as others lamented the irregularities experienced in the network at the Computer Based Centres.
Some of the candidates who spoke in an interview in some parts of the country decried poor internet network. It was observed orderliness at most of the exam centres visited while students took their turns to write the exam.
The 2017 UTME which commenced at about 8:30 a.m. is a two hour exam for every batch and is expected to hold for seven days excluding Sunday across the country.
Some of the candidates in FCT, Osun, Ebonyi and Nasarawa states expressed dissatisfaction over poor internet challenges at their respective CBT centres especially at Kunike International School, Ilesa road in Osogbo.
Also candidates at the Risewise CBT centre in Kuchikau, Nasarawa state lamented poor internet facilities.
Mr Dauda Geoffrey at the CBT centre, Kuchikau, told NAN that he experienced some challenges ranging from bad network to system tripping off as a result of power failure.
He said that the operators in the centre were, however, able to manage the problems, adding that the experience can deter candidates from full concentration in the exam.
“Generally, the exam was good but some of us experience some hitches while writing the exam because some of the computer systems were malfunctioning.
“They were logging in and out and we also experienced a situation where some of the systems were outrightly switched off.
“But the officials were able to manage the situation because for those of us with the challenge, we have to wait for some candidates to finish then we move to their system to write our exams,” he said.
Geoffrey, however, said he would rather prefer the old method of paper and pencil in writing the exam as it was stressed free.
Miss Faith Attah, also noted that the only problem faced in the centre was that of network failure, adding that JAMB authority should look for ways of solving the problems for the next batch of candidates.
She said that this would help erase the doubt of hitch-free exam from the public.
Also, Mr Dare Monday appealed to JAMB to put in place effective and efficient structure in the conduct of the exam.
Some of the candidates also decried the unfriendly attitude of some JAMB staff that showed less concern to candidates who needed immediate attention or faced with some immediate challenges. Earlier, Mr Ayodele Ojo, JAMB supervisor at the centre said the problems were minor but promised to proffer immediate solution before subsequent batches.
Ojo also said that the exam was smooth; adding that all the candidates were familiar with the computer as there was no problem of having to put them through the system.
He said that over 98 per cent of the first batch reported and wrote the exam.
