Many candidates who had besieged computer-based centers on Saturday, April 8, 2017 to sit for the mock examination of the Unified Matriculation Examination left the venues in disappointment and angry as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, abruptly called off the test.
The board had taken to its twitter handle, @JAMBHQ, to state that “Board has postponed the mock examination due to unforeseen circumstances. A new date will be fixed and candidates will be contacted.”
Board has postponed the Mock Examination due to unforeseen circumstances. A new date will be fixed and Candidates will be contacted.
— JAMB (@JAMBHQ) April 8, 2017
JAMB sincerely apologizes for the inconveniences to all.
— JAMB (@JAMBHQ) April 8, 2017
The mock exam, according to JAMB, the examination, was a voluntary exercise with the aim to“familiarize our candidates with the CBT systems and generally forecast the challenges that may be faced ahead in order to proactively address them.”
However, candidates expressed their displeasure with JAMB for suspending the examination, PUNCH reports.
Berating the examination body, a candidate, Oluwatoyin Bakare, said JAMB was not ready for the test.
Another candidate who did not want to be identified, said, “JAMB has not been able to handle registration let alone mock examination.”
Meanwhile, JAMB has directed that Computer-Based Test centres should not collect money from candidates who would be sitting for the nationwide mock examination
The spokesperson of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, who made the announcement in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, April 8, 2017 said the mock examination had been postponed by two weeks.
Benjamin had earlier revealed, in an e-mailed statement to The Trent, that the JAMB boss, Professor Is-haq Oloyede slept in the office on Friday in preparation for the UTME Mock Examination.
“We are good to go for the mock examination; we are on top of the situation. We are just waiting for the time. We all slept in the office, the registrar/chief executive slept in the office. He was the first person to sleep before all of us joined,” Dr. Benjamin said.