Parents to JAMB: Stop using UTME to generate revenue for FG 

Parents and students in the country have again expressed displeasure at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for having turned itself to a revenue-generation organisation for the Federal Government.

They said it is unfair particularly to parents, majority of whom are poor, and is condemnable that an examination body such as JAMB could be charging examination fees in excess in order to remit part of it to the Federal Government and another part as gifts to some schools on the premises of giving awards.

They claimed the action showed that JAMB’s leadership is insensitive to the plight of many of the parents who often struggle to raise just N4,700 for their children to sit for the examination.

They said, “JAMB is supposed not to charge more than N1,500 maximum per candidate (instead of  the N3,500 for itself and another N1,200 for the CBT centres and the recommended book) for the examination.

“The examination is internet-based that lasts for about five hours with the marking and scoring of candidates also done online.

“It is wrong for JAMB to be using the opportunity of being the only government agency mandated to conduct the tertiary institutions’ entrance examination to turn in money for the Federal Government.

“The most painful aspect of the whole situation is that many candidates re-sit the examination many times without securing admission to their dream institution and courses.

“Another issue is that no one can categorically highlight the specific things that the Federal Government has used the billions of Naira previously remitted by JAMB to do.”

The national president, Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (PTAN), Mr Haruna Danjuma, and his deputy, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, as well as numerous other parents told Nigerian Tribune in separate interviews that they were disappointed by JAMB’s action.

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They said that JAMB should have just charged the exact amount that is enough to conveniently conduct the examination and then add 10 percent operational costs to the bill.

They therefore urged the examination body to reduce the examination fee and stop doling out what they called their hard-earned incomes to the government under whatever guise.

They advised the body not to hold another Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for now in order to clear the two-year backlog on ground for public universities.