Not a few candidates who sat for the 2015 Joint Admission and Matriculation Board and UTME examinations-Computer Based Test on Tuesday expressed disappointment across the five examinations centres in Minna, the Niger State capital.
This followed the breakdown of some computer systems allocated to the candidates at the various Information and Communication Technology centres for the CBT.
The candidates, who are mostly in their teens and 20s, were said to have arrived the venues of the examinations at Morris, FUT Minna, Shiroro Road, Hajiya Jumai Babangida Aliyu ICT Centre at Chanchaga Local Government Secretariat in Minna and the state’s office of JAMB at the Eastern bye pass area of the state capital for the exams as early as 6am.
It was reliably gathered that the early arrival of the candidates for the exams was against the backdrop of the earlier information at the disposal of the candidates that the exams that was scheduled to hold for a duration of about three hours in three sections was to commence at 6am prompt.
A visit to state office of JAMB at about 8am revealed that though the examinations was earlier scheduled to hold at 6am, it was moved forward by one hour.
The one hour shift was said to be to allow for convenience for candidates whose parents or guardians lived far off and who de not have vehicles to convey them to the venue.
JAMB authorities at the state office ensured that the examinations did not start until some few minutes after 7am.
It lasted till about 10:30 am for the first batch of the candidates for the exams.
It was further gathered that the second batch of the candidates were scheduled to start their exams from 10:30am and be in the hall till 1:30pm, while the third batch were scheduled to hold their exams between 1:30pm and 3:30pm.
This followed the large number of candidates who applied for the exams.
An insider source told The Eagle Online that the JAMB management made provisions for about 120 to 150 candidates per centre, adding that the candidates were divided into three per session in order that the examination halls were not jam packed with a view to having close supervision of the candidates by the invigilators.
The source who pleaded anonymity however informed our the Eagle Online that throughout the duration of the exams at the Niger State office of JAMB, that there was no problem of computer breakdown.
But the reverse was the case at the Hajiya Jumai Aliyu Babangida ICT Centre at Chanchaga Local Government Area of the state within Minna metropolis as many candidates were seen complaining about the delay in calling them by the officials when it was their turn to enter the examination hall.
A candidate, who preferred anonymity, in a brief encounter with The Eagle Online, said that JAMB officials had a hectic time appealing for understanding and cooperation from the candidates who were supposed to have their own examinations at the venue between 10:30am and 1:30pm.
The eyewitness said as at 11:18am, candidates for the morning exams were still battling with the computer systems allocated to them for the exams.
The source however lamented that there was no other option available to the candidates than to try and endure and wait until the faulty computer systems were fixed by computer engineers who were allegedly invited to work on them.
Also in other three centres visited by our reporters, similar experiences were shared by the visibly worried candidates in their hundreds, following their inability to commence their exams at the stipulated period by JAMB management and staff in the state.
However, concerted efforts to speak with some of the Niger State officials of JAMB was not successful as some of the officials were said to have been on tour of some of the centres where the candidates were having challenges operating the computer systems allocated to them due to one technical problem or the other.
Candidates of the 2015 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Delta State also on Monday faced hell during the maiden edition of the all computer-based examination.
Many of them who spoke with The Eagle Online in Asaba, the state capital, said they are afraid of undeserved mass failure.
While they complained that besides the stress of printing their examination slips, which contained information details of their eligibility status, they said their inability to access the server of the examiner before the examination commenced, coupled with the undependable technical base examination, was frustrating.
They lamented that the examination body failed to provide functional computers and the much-needed software and dependable energy to back-up that will save candidates from unwarranted trauma.
A candidate at the Mater-Care Secondary School, Asaba, venue of the examination, who pleaded anonymity, said: “JAMB did not meet the basic requirements for right materials and conducive environment.
“Many of us could not access our dates, centres, subjects, examination numbers, passport photographs and allotted time of text as the system expects us to answer questions online simultaneously on JAMB websites.”
Another student for the examination (names withheld), who was loitering round the board’s headquarters in Asaba, with hundreds of others, wondered why their examination numbers and venues were not specified on their examination slips.
According to her: “It took me over three hours to summit my examination slip, get my examination number and venue on Sunday. The officials said there was no electricity and the generating plant in the office was undergoing some maintenance. That shows the unpreparedness of the board.”
Candidates from schools based in rural and riverine communities of the state who had contact with computers for the first time, were the worst hit.
However, a senior official of the examination board, who begged for anonymity, told The Eagle Online at the examination centre along Okpanam Road in Asaba on Monday that the UTME management put the candidates on the hot seats.
According to him, examinations only become reliable when it is conducted on a credible platform, when the atmosphere is conducive and the needed materials are readily in place.
The official however lauded the board for conducting a hitch-free examination across the state, recalling: “Two years ago, JAMB ensured that it gradually introduced the use of computers to write the examination. Up to the last two years, students were made to read the questions on the computer and answer on paper. But this year, the questions and answers are going to be used by computer based. No paper will be used by candidates.”
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