The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, on Sunday disclosed that the board will no longer register centres not using laptops to conduct its Computer-Based Test Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination ( UTME).

He noted that the step is to save candidates from the horror of getting confused and distracted when there is power outage during the conduct of the examination.

Oloyede disclosed this in Lagos while briefing the press on the innovations being introduced by the Board to enhance its activities and make the conduct of the UTME more seamless.

“We have observed that some CBT centres deploying desktops to conduct the exam do experience power outage and that sometimes lead to the distraction of candidates. Before they begin to switch over to other sources of power, some candidates may lose concentration,” he said.

According to him, “henceforth, new centres to be registered to conduct our exam must make use of laptops only. When fully charged, laptops can still work for some time before going off. It is not that we are going to stop using centres deploying desktops, but they must have UPS to back up their computers apart from standby generating sets. And we are advising our centres, to all switch to the use of laptops.

“Because of the need to also make operators of CBT centres get more income, we have increased the charges that they can maximally charge candidates from N700 to N1, 000. That will not add any kobo to the cost of registration by the candidates,” JAMB Registrar noted.

He added that candidates who wish to sit for the Mock Exam of the body would also pay N1, 000 at the point of registration, saying after centre operators have prepared for the Mock Exam, some candidates would not show up, wasting the efforts of the centre operators.

The JAMB boss also announced the upgrade of the Board’s Integrated Brochure and Syllabus System (IBASS) to also serve as a communication channel between the Board, regulatory agencies and institutions.

“We are launching that soon in Abuja and the officials of the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) will be there with representatives of the institutions we serve. It will eliminate paper communication between us, the regulatory bodies and the institutions. It is also private in nature as what is discussed between say JAMB, NUC and the University of Ibadan won’t be known by others.

“If a new course has been introduced by an institution and approved by the regulatory body concerned, there won’t be need for paper communication between those concerned. Immediately NUC approves any new course for a university, we will get to know at JAMB and we will begin to take necessary action.

“This is to ensure the full transition from a paper communication system to a paperless regime. This will reduce delay in the conduct of the Board’s critical operations, increase efficiency, track communication and archive records of communications.

“For smooth operation of the paperless regime, the Board would be meeting with all tertiary institutions virtually on Monday, 14th November, 2022. The meeting would be held in two batches on the same day for Northern and Southern tertiary institutions,” he added.

On the call by some stakeholders that the Board should stop the sale of admission forms to allow public universities get over the backlog of admissions they are contending with, the JAMB registrar said that would not be necessary.

“The recent strike affected mainly public universities and even some did not join. Universities like the Osun State University, the Lagos State University, and the Kwara State University did not join; we should not hold such institutions back. Each affected university should devise means of getting over the problem. Some universities are already merging admission exercises, some are running two sessions in parallel manner. We have also advised admission seekers to find out if their choices of schools would be able to meet their expectations.

“As we talk, some private universities have concluded admission exercises for 2022/23 session and getting ready for the next batch of students,” he said.

Oloyede said the Board is also considering the adoption of e-wallet for payments for its services to reduce the payment of some charges by candidates. (Daily Sun)

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