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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has explained why it may not extend the registration deadline for candidates taking part in the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE)
The examination body said that they are happy with the huge level of progress of the exercise nationwide which has been very smooth and seamless.
It stated that because of that, it is course to meet its daily target of 100,000 registrations despite the minor disruptions witnessed in some of these registration centres.
According to NAN, this was made known by the JAMB’s Registrar, Professor Is’haq Oloyede, while monitoring the registration exercise in some centres on Friday, in Lagos.
Oloyede said that in all, almost 600,000 UTME and Direct Entry (DE) candidates had been registered, noting that with the level of progress made already, coupled with the seamless, process, he did not foresee the need for an extension of the exercise.
The JAMB Registrar hinting there may be no extension
Oloyede in his statement said, “We are not expecting any extension. I want to say that we are very happy with the way the exercise has been going, two weeks after it started.
“More than 55,000 have already registered today alone and we had expected at least 50,000 to register as at today, nationwide. But for the few disruptions witnessed in some of these centres, it is possible to register even 100,000 candidates in a day.
“Our target is to make sure that about 100,000 are able to register in a day. Therefore, so far, I must say I am very satisfied with the registration exercise nationwide.
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“The development gladdens my heart because it shows that we are on course, despite the few glitches witnessed in the registration exercise in some centres, there has been a huge progress made.’’
Measures introduced by JAMB to ensure smooth, seamless registration for candidates
The JAMB registrar emphasized on the various measures introduced by the examination body to ensure hitch-free, smooth registration by the UTME/DE candidates for the examination.
Oloyede noted that apart from the 55019 code which was used by candidates for registration with hardly any complaints, the examination board also introduced the 66019 code, which these candidates have hardly used for registration.
He said that JAMB has discussed with its service providers to forestall any further disruption to the exercise, with Airtel already on board with expansion and MTN to come with its own expansion too.
He said, “We have hardly had complaint concerning the code 55019, where candidates should send their NIN numbers to, after following the laid down steps.
“We even introduced the 66019, another code, and I must tell you that we have not even used that one; it has been redundant.
“That goes to show you that 55019 is working and is still working. Any candidate having issues with it must be a self-inflicted one, on his or her part.
“It has never been this smooth. So, now, we are having capacity problem, apparently, which started day before yesterday.
“We have spoken with our service providers and Airtel has come on board with expansion. We are expecting MTN to come up with expansion too, so that this disruption will not continue.
“We hope in the next few hours, the few technical hitches currently being experienced will be taken care of and we will be able to have the exercise run smoothly.’’
Key things to note
Recall that in a revised timetable, JAMB announced that the registration exercise for the 2022 UTME/DE will commence on Saturday, February 19 and is expected to end on March 26, with the main examination scheduled to hold from May 6 to May 16.
In a related development, the examination body a few days ago announced that the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock examination will now hold on April 9, and no longer on April 16 as earlier scheduled.
Also, JAMB, thorugh its Spokesman, Dr Fabian Benjamin, had said that about 600,000 candidates are currently registered for the this year’s examination as against the 200,000 candidates that were registered as at this time last year.
