Candidates Protest UTME Date, Demand Postponement

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Scores of candidates, who registered for the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, on Monday protested in Lagos against the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s decision to schedule the examination for March.

The protesting candidates were led by the National President of the Association of Tutorial School Operators, Mr. Dotun Sodunke.  Many of them were seen carrying placards, which bore various inscriptions.

Addressing journalists during the protest, Sodunke warned that Nigerians might witness mass failure; if JAMB went on to hold the examination as scheduled.

Arguing that the board’s decision to fix the date of the examination for March was not in the best interest of the candidates, he said the latter needed enough time to complete the UTME syllabus before sitting the examination.

Wondering if revenue generation for the Federal Government was more important to the examination body than the education of the candidates and by implication, the future of Nigeria, Sodunke said, “The new head of JAMB needs to be called to order. He should not be carried away by the euphoria of revenue generation. The future of this country depends on these children. ‘Admissions have not been concluded in many schools, yet JAMB has fixed a date for another one. Where is such a thing done?”

He also described the introduction of the Central Admission Processing System as a “fraud”, saying it was wrong to admit candidates on JAMB’s portal only to deny them admission later on the CAPS page.

PUNCH