Chidimma UCHEGBU
The 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) commenced nationwide on Tuesday, amidst some challenges. The challenges, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said, include technical glitches and disruption of power in some locations.
The examination which had over 1.6 million registered candidates nationwide for this year was conducted for those seeking admission into various tertiary institutions in the country.
In some of the centres monitored in Abuja, some of the candidates were seen with their parents as early as 6am waiting for the commencement of the examination.
A candidate, Adamu Mohammed who expressed worry over his performance as a result of consistent disruption of power at the Capville School CBT centre located in the Gwarimpa area of Abuja appealed to JAMB to find a way to compensate candidates who face such challenges while sitting for their examination.
“I answered the questions to the best of my ability but I think the constant shutdown of computers as a result of power that was not stable greatly affected my performance. I think JAMB can do better, maybe by extending the time given since the problem was not caused by candidates”, he said.
Also speaking, Margaret Idahosa who told newsmen her computer shut down thrice as a result of the power and technical glitches, was however fortunate to have completed and submitted on time, unlike many others who were not so lucky.
Also,at the Global Distance Learning Center located on the Central Business District in the Abuja Metropolis, It was observed that the first session of the examinations was to commence at exactly 8:00 a.m. and did not start until a few minutes before 9:00 a.m.
One of the high opinion leaders for the examination, Abdulrahman Balogun, said there were no technical hitches, but the little delay was from JAMB headquarters.
”We had some little delay at this centre, the examination that ought to have started at 7:00 a.m. did not start, and when asked, I was told it was not due to any technical hitch, but they were waiting for a signal from JAMB headquarters.”
Mr Balogun, who said that candidates in the second batch had been screened to ascertain their centre, commended the process, saying that close to 99 per cent success in orderliness, smoothness and arrangement was recorded.
Some candidates, after their examinations, commended the process and prayed for sustainability in future examinations.
The 8-day examination taking place across 708 CBT centres nationwide will run till May 3rd, 2023.
