JAMB extends candidates’s registration by 2 weeks

THE Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, has announced the commencement of the sale of its 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations admission forms and registration of candidates by two weeks.

Registrar and Chief Executive of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who made this known on Saturday in Abuja at news conference, said instead of the 19th April, earlier announced as the deadline for the sale of forms and registration, the new deadline is Friday, 5th May, 2017.

Accordingly, Oloyede said the 2017 UTME has been shifted from the initial May 6 to May 20, 2017, to start now on Saturday, May 13 to 20, 2017.

The board had earlier announced the sale of forms and registration for the UTME from Monday March 20 with the initial closing date on Saturday April 22.

The JAMB boss has also announced the suspension of the proposed UTME mock examination earlier scheduled to commence on Saturday 8.

He said the postponement of the UTME mock examination was due to failure from its technical partners.

According to him, the postponement would also allow more prospective candidates participate in the mock examination.

“The postponement f the UTME mock examination was due to failure from our technical partners. Yesterday (Friday), we told you people that if there was need for extension, we would do that. Today (Saturday), we put the system on trial and discovered that there were certain failures from our technical partners,” Oloyede said.

The development has also led to reduction of the examination date from two weeks earlier given by the board to now one week.

Oloyede, explained this was to adhere to earlier agreement reached by other examination bodies, saying the shift in the examination date and sale of forms were within the period allowed in order not to interfere with the conduct of other examinations, especially the West African Examination Council examinations.

Oloyede said: “The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board wishes to apologise to candidates and other stakeholders. We could not go on with the Mock Examination and hereby announce extension of registration exercise of the 2017 UTME.

“Instead of the earlier announced April 19, the deadline for the sale of forms and registration will now extend to Friday, May 5, 2017. Consequently, the 2017 UTME has also been postponed to start on Saturday, May 13 – 20, 2017.

“Meanwhile, the Mock Examination earlier slated for Saturday, April 8, 2017 has been put on hold.  This is because the appropriate rehearsal and test-running of the new system has been substantially achieved.

“The plan was to trial-test the readiness of our facilities and address the challenges that may likely confront the main examination. The Mock Examination remains free for willing candidates, even the fee due to the CBT centre Owners are being paid by JAMB. No cost to the candidates

“At this moment, we have realized that the plan to hold this Mock Examination was good for us. We are now in a better position to achieve better than we would have done without this trial testing. This is why the exercise is at no cost to the candidates.

“It is our strong conviction that this exercise is an experience for us. Our systems analysis has revealed interesting findings that will engender a seamless and successful 2017 UTME exercise.

On behalf of JAMB, we use this opportunity to appreciate our stakeholders, including the candidates, for being part of this experiment. Every disappointment is a blessing, an old adage says.

“The blessing that will trail the suspension of this Mock Examination and extension of registration deadline will manifest in our main UTME by next month.

“Once again, we appreciate and apologise to the candidates who chose to participate in this free and voluntary Mock Examination. They are part of our experience towards ensuring a fruitful and successful UTME this year and in future,” he said.