The 2020/2021 Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening has been fixed for September 7, POLITICS NIGERIA reports.
JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, announced this on Monday after a consultative virtual meeting with Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts of tertiary institutions in the country.
He noted that the examination body chose the date in order to allow prospective University students who will be writing the 2020 O’ level examinations to obtain the required qualifications. He said the screening would now hold between September 7 and November 18.
Recall that the board had earlier issued a guideline for all tertiary institutions to begin their admission process with effect from August 20.
The JAMB boss, however, urged institutions that would conduct admissions without any-post UTME screening to ensure candidates whose SSCE results will be released towards the end of the year participate in the admission exercise.
Oloyede said: “The view of JAMB is that while we go on consulting at a point when it becomes necessary for the decision, we should all come together and take decision.
“Presently as you are aware, WAEC starts the Senior School Certificate Examination on 17 August, it will go on till the 7th of September.
“Similarly, on the 21 of September or thereabout, NABTEB will commence its examination that will go on till on the 15 of October and immediately after that, NECO starts on the 5th and will hold till 18 of November.
“Rather than making candidates run, particularly, when they will have to write their school certificate exam in different towns and rush to university elsewhere for post-UTME, like somebody rushing from Sokoto to Ibadan for post-UTME, we believe as a custodian of the highest sector of the education system, we should avoid that.”
Oloyede stated that institutions whose post-UTME screening is mandatory for candidates would have to spread such exercise in two phases.
“For those (institutions) who want to take post-UTME, that cannot be earlier than the 7th of September and it will be held twice- 7 September to 4 October, and then it will be held for the second time on the 18 November to mop up those who are taking their school certificate examination,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Oloyede disclosed that the board has withheld the results of candidates that sat for this year’s UTME at Correctional Service Centres (prisons) over suspected infractions.
“There are candidates who took exams in the prison yard that we know are not prisoners, so we wrote to the correctional centres to explain how that happened because we didn’t want non-prisoners to take advantage of the concessions we give to inmates,” Oloyede said.
Good, bt what about the tertiary institutions
When are they resuming?
I commend JAMB for the good work they are doing. They have set a timeline for post UTME (including mop up), but it seems they have forgotten that their own mop up examination for candidates who have genuine cases, such as, fingerprint /biometric issue. May I humbly remind the board that these candidates are still waiting to write their JAMB examination.