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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has registered 236, 206 candidates within the first eight days of the commencement of the registration for the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and the Direct Entry (DE) programme.
This is as the examination body has rescheduled the mock examination earlier scheduled to hold on April 16 for April 9.
According to the examination body , the record is a huge improvement when compared to its experience in 2021 when it said only 102,221 candidates were successfully registered within the same period.
The examination body, which made the claim in the latest edition of its weekly magazine that was released on Monday, noted that the new development is an indication that its partnership with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on the mandatory use of the National Identity Numbers (NIN) by prospective candidates, is yielding the desired results
JAMB said unlike in 2019 when it had to abruptly suspend the mandatory use of NIN by candidates due to complaints, the reintroduction of the policy in 2020, it said, has helped to significantly curb examination malpractices.
The partnership between the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is yielding desired results as“ the process which, by all indications, was deemed impracticable in 2019 and had to be shelved, was reintroduced in 2020 with little hitches, but has become seamless in all ramifications in 2021 and now improved in 2022,” the examination body said.
The statistics provided by JAMB in its bulletin indicated that on the first day of the registration in 2021, only 17 candidates successfully procured the required personal identification number (PIN) but none successfully registered.
However, on the first day of registration in 2022, a total of 13,000 prospective candidates had already procured PINs while 5,846 successfully registered.
Meanwhile, JAMB said within the first eight days of registration commencement in 2021, a total of 117,314 successfully procured their PINs while 102,221 were successfully registered.
Meanwhile, the examination body said it has approved the constitution of a management committee to monitor the ongoing registration exercise nationwide.
It added that apart from the UTME and DE registration, the accredited computer-based test centres have also been approved to register candidates for the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), part-time, sandwich and distance learning programmes, and that proper monitoring would be required to address likely issues of malpractices.
JAMB said: ”To ensure that the candidates and the public get quality services and are not extorted, the Board would be monitoring the 2 0 2 2 UTME /DE registration exercise, as well as assess how the centres are shouldering the added responsibility.
“The exercise is part of the Board’s resolve to ensure that its agents play according to the rules as anyone found wanting would be delisted.
Furthermore, the centres were also charged to refrain from charging above the regulated fees.”
JAMB said the change in the date of the mock examination is due to the realisation that Easter Saturday is on April 16.
The examination agency said; “This change is owing to the realisation that 16th April, 2022, earlier chosen, is Easter Saturday, a day celebrated by the Christian faithful as a holy Saturday as it ends the lenten season and falls on the day before Easter Sunday.
“It would be recalled that the Board was to begin its registration for the 2022/2023 UTME/DE exercise on Saturday, 12th February, 2022, but had to push the exercise to Saturday, 19th of February, 2022. The one-week extension had similarly affected the date for the Mock-UTME which also had to be rescheduled.”
It said as a responsive organisation that it would continue to act in the interest of Nigerians.
JAMB has, therefore, urged all candidates who wish to register early to take part in the mock examination to take note of the change.