The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) announced that only Computer Based-Test (CBT) Centres with laptops would be accredited to conduct the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). This was disclosed by the Board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who stated that this was aimed at solving the issue of power failures, which causes disruption during UTME.
Oloyede said, “We have observed that some CBT centres deploying desktops to conduct the exam do experience power outages and that sometimes leads to the distraction of candidates. Before they begin to switch over to other sources of power, some candidates may lose concentration.
“To address the incidence of power failure during examinations, the board has put in place a more stringent measure for accreditation of new CBT centres.
“Only new centres with laptops would henceforth get accreditation. We won’t register new centres with desktop computers. Old centres with desktops must get Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) devices”.
He also disclosed that in order for CBT centres to generate more income, candidates would no longer pay N700 but now N1,000 to sit for mock UTME and the main examination, adding that the price review was necessary because of the rising cost of power/energy.
