JAMB: Candidates complain of stressful, cumbersome registration process in South-east

Abakaliki – Some prospective candidates for the 2017
Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) say they
are facing poor internet network, stressful and
cumbersome process in registering for the Unified
Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Ebonyi,
Abia and Imo.
Correspondents who monitored the situation in these
three states, report that there are long queues at the
banks and registration centres, including JAMB Offices.
In Abakiliki, the prospective candidates suggested
inclusion of more banks in the sale of JAMB forms.
They told NAN in Abakaliki on Tuesday that using only
two banks – Union Bank and Unity Bank – to sell forms
to thousands of prospective candidates was frustrating.
The candidates claimed that some of them had spent
many days without obtaining the form, even as some
who don’t have relatives, had to come to the state
capital every day in an attempt to buy the form.
They expressed fears that many prospective candidates
might not purchase the forms within the specified time
frame, unless urgent steps was taken to remedy the
situation.
Messrs Victor Nkpuma, Richard Okafor, Philip Onwe and
Miss Eunice Oko, told NAN that the two banks were
inadequate for Ebonyi and called for inclusion of more
banks, to ease the process.
“The idea of using only Union Bank and Unity Bank for
the sale of the form to me is not the best for the state
because the two banks can hardly serve the purpose
adequately.
“There was almost a stampede in Unity bank the other
day because the crowd was so much and the bank’s
security personnel could not control the crowd because
everybody wanted to get the form at the same time.
“There should be an inclusion of more banks to ease the
frustration and pain that those coming to obtain the
form are made to go through and again many people
may not be able to get the form within the time frame,
Nkpuma said.
Okafor decried the current registration procedures, and
described it as more tedious, complex, time and money
consuming.
According to him, candidates are first expected to go to
JAMB office and fill a profile form that would contain his
or her e-mail address linked to the JAMB website.
The candidates after filling the profile, would go to a
designated bank with the form issued to them at the
JAMB office and buy the entrance form at the cost of
N5,5000.
According to him, candidates are still required to pay
additional N700 to collect JAMB brochure and a novel at
designated banks.
“The procedure is frustrating, cumbersome, time and
money consuming and I am afraid that many intending
candidates may miss, if the board doesn’t relax the
tedious process.
“Again having only two banks to serve the whole of
Ebonyi in the sale of the form is an unthinkable action
because many will definitely miss out,” Okafor said.
Meanwhile, Onwe and Oko have urged the board to
reduce the fee payable by prospective candidates, to
make it possible for indigent candidates to obtain the
form.
They also urged JAMB to give more banks permission to
sell the forms to candidates.
“The procedure adopted by JAMB in the 2017 sale of the
UTME form is frustrating, time and money consuming
unlike in the previous method where a candidate goes to
a cyber cafe and do the online registration.
“The former procedure was simple, easy, less stressful,
less time and money consuming,” they said.
In Owerri, the candidates told NAN that the problem of
invalid Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) had
contributed to delays in the registration process.
A candidate, Johnson Nnadozie, said he paid at Sterling
bank and received a PIN, which he had been unable to
use since, adding that he had gone back to the bank
severally and was told to keep retrying with the same
PIN.
Nnadozie added that the crowds at the banks also made
it difficult for the bank staff to resolve the issues
satisfactorily.
Another candidate, Chinenye Anyanwu, said she paid,
had yet to receive her PIN, while Chidi Iwueze, said the
email address he used in creating his profile and which
he used to receive his confirmation code, had suddenly
become inavalid.
He added that the Computer-Based Test centre he went
for the registration, either had network problems or the
username or password was incorrect.
In Umuahia, the candidates complained of poor internet
access and extra charges at the cyber cafe.
Some applicants said that besides the N5,500
registration fees, they were made to pay extra charges
of N300 and N200 for opening of JAMB profile and e-
mail addresses.
Victor Nwafor and Christie Nworgu, said that the
process was compounded by poor internet access
which, according to them, delayed the process of
creating the JAMB profile.
They said that it took them two days to get the JAMB
profile from a designated JAMB registration centre, due
to poor network.
A computer operator at a cyber cafe in Umuahia, who
identified herself simply as Gift, said that the centre
collected additional charges for creating JAMB profile
and e-mail for applicants who had no personal email.
“There are some applicants who use their cellphones to
create the JAMB profile, using their e-mail. Such people
pay the JAMB registration fee of N2,500 only,” Gift said.
She denied the allegation in some quarters that
registration centres were using the opportunity to exploit
unsuspecting applicants.
Gift said that the management of the centre had made
complaints to JAMB concerning the difficulties being
experienced in creating profile.
She said that the examination body had given an
assurance that the issues would be over soon.
At Apunmiri in Umuahia South Local Government Area,
an operator at a designated registration centre, Mrs
Chinaza Ozodinmbu, confirmed that the difficulties
encountered in creating profiles slowed down the
registration process.
Consequently, both the prospective candidates and
registration centres have appealed to JAMB to take
urgent steps to address the challenges and ensure a
hitch-free process.