By IFEOMA NZEDIEGWU

Some candidates taking the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have lamented the short time given for the test.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who monitored the examination in Awka on Friday that the time allotted for the exercise was too short.

The candidates claimed that some of them were not conversant with computers while others said they were not given extra time when they faced technical problems.

They appealed for extention of set time to enable candiates perform optimally.

Miss Onyimye Okonkwo a candidate who sat for the Computer Based Test (CBT) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, (UNIZIK), Awka, complained that the time was too short for her to cope considering the technical fault that ocurred during the test.

According to her, two hours is not enough to handle four subjects and I am not conversant with computers. I pray that I will make my scores.

Miss Juliet Nnadi, another candidate, said that during her aptitude examination, she encountered technical problems in using the computer though it was later resolved but she was not given extra time to cover the lost hour.

Another candidate, Mr Chibundu Nwafor, remarked on the allotted time of exam was not fair to some of the candiates not very conversant with computer processes.

Nwafor appealled to the oragnisers JAMB to reconsider the time factor attotted to the process as the exercise relied on their future.

One of the supervisors who preferred anonymity, told NAN that the computers were functional adding that some candidates were nervous and were not computer compliant.

The supervisor stressed the need to allow children to attend computer lessons especially during holidays.

NAN reports that the UTME began on April 16 and will end in April 26 (NAN)