UTME: Malpractice through wristwatches, pens no longer possible —JAMB

AHEAD of the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has installed devices to check malpractices in all accredited centres.

The board’s Head of Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

He said that the registration would take place from December 6 2017 to February 6, 2018.

“We have concluded arrangements for the commencement of registration of candidates for the 2018 diet of our Computer Based Test (CBT) UTME. Part of the arrangement is installation of devices that will check electronic gadgets used by some candidates to perpetrate malpractice.

“Cheating through devices such as wristwatch and pen during examinations will no longer be possible. We have ensured that such things are detected as we are bent on ensuring that next year’s examination is conducted without any hitch,” he said.

Benjamin said that more than 700 centres had so far been accredited for the registration, noting that the figure was more than the number of centres to be used for the examination.

“You know that it is not all centres used for registration that will be used for the examination,” he said.

He called on prospective UTME candidates to visit the board’s website for the registration process.

According to him, candidates were asked in the past to present their passports for scanning during registration, but that this would no longer be the case as the board is insisting on live photographs of candidates.

“In doing the registration, candidates are to send a message to a code, 55019, for profile; then the profile is automatically registered. The message to be sent is candidate’s name, starting with the surname,” he said.

He urged candidates to prepare well for the examination and avoid malpractice.