JAMB Centre With No Seats For Candidates

The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) is a Nigerian entrance examination board for tertiary-level institutions. The board conducts entrance Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations for prospective undergraduates into Nigerian universities.

A visit to one of the approved centres in Ondo state indicated that some of the candidates writing the exam were not pleased with the preparations made for them.

At the OPEOLUWA ICT CENTRE, Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State, it was observed that some of the candidates were stopped from writing their exams on the date indicated on their slip.

The Campus Reporter’s observer who was present at the centre premises to monitor the process observed that officials of the Civil Defense were on the ground to ensure security while the exam officials ensured the coordination of candidates writing the exam.

In a conversation with some of the candidates, it was learnt that they could not write their exam even as they had their slips with them, indicating the time, venue and date.

The reason for this was that the Ondo exam centre had no seats for them. In total, the number of seats available in the centre on the day of the exam was 220. This meant that candidates with exam numbers greater than 220 could not write their exam at the centre at the stipulated time.

The candidates. expressing their bitterness, said they have toured the centre and are tired of hearing the same thing.

Affected candidates were told to go reprint their slips before they can write the exam but, after many printed their slip several times, their exam schedules did not change, posing a problem for the candidates as many had travelled from other parts of Ondo state.

In addition to this, many candidates were upset about the transport fare they had spent transporting themselves to the exam centre only to find out they could not write the exam.

Some of the candidates’ parents who followed their wards to the venue were sad as they roamed around the Ikare community like tourists who were paying a visit to the community. They complained about the transportation fare and risk to their lives they undertook, only to find out their children could not write the exam.

The affected candidates who could not write their exams were told to reprint their slips on Sunday, 27th of June, 2021. However, the question is, will they still be able to write their exam by then? Will their seat number change to below 221? These questions and more were unable to be answered by the exam officials as they were busy attending to candidates whose seat numbers were valid for the day’s exam.

One of the candidates who wrote her exam on Tuesday the 22nd of June, 2021, said she was lucky to write her exam. Her seat number was 220 and the next candidate behind her which is 221 was not allowed into the exam hall.

Some of the candidates who could not go home had to stay in the scorching sun while others had to call their parents, informing them of the situation.

With the present situation, the affected candidates will have to wait again to know their fate.