UTME: Parents express concerns over low performance

Some parents in Lagos on Tuesday expressed disappointment and concerns over the low performance of candidates in the recently-concluded 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Some parents, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, said that the low performance could be attributed to a number of issues.

NAN reports that the UTME organised by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), had on Monday released a comprehensive statistical breakdown of the 2025 results.

According to the board’s official figures, a total of 1,955,069 candidates sat for the UTME, with performance across scores ranging as follows: 320 and above (4,756 or 0.24 percent), 300–319 (7,658 or 0.39 percent).

Others are 300 and above (12,414 or 0.63 percent); 250–299 (73,441 or 3.76 per cent), 200–249 (334,560 or 17.11 percent).

The candidates who scored 160–199 are 983,187 or 50.29 percent; 140–159 (488,197 or 24.97 percent); 120–139 (57,419 or 2.94 percent), 100–119 (3,820 or 0.20 percent), while those who scored below 100 are 2,031 or 0.10 per cent.

A parent, Oluwaseun Oluwajuwon, who spoke with NAN, attributed the low performance to lack of reading culture amongst the candidates.

“Students’ participation in academic matters is very low, with many preferring social media and other distractions over reading and learning.

“We parents need to really pay attention to our kids. We need to make sure they follow moral standards and ensure they study hard,” Oluwajuwon, a cyber security expert, said.

Another parent, Saidat Oduwole, a pharmacist, told NAN that the quality of education contributed to the low performance of candidates.

Oduwole stated that the quality of education had been dropping due to the current economic situation, making it difficult for students to access textbooks and other educational resources.

To  Ifunanya Bello, a businesswoman, the low performance of the candidates may not be unconnected with unqualified teachers.

“A significant number of teachers in Nigeria’s education system are not qualified to teach.

“Schools need to employ qualified teachers to enable these children have a sound education that they deserve to merit any position they find themselves in life,” she said.

An educationist, Adetoro Bello, attributed the low performance to media influence.

“The widespread use of social media among students is worrisome and this, for me, has distracted them from their studies, leading to a low performance in their examinations.

Another parent, Olufisayo Anthony, called on the management of JAMB to improve its performance, while attributing the poor performance of the candidates to technical issues.

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Anthony said that some candidates had complained about the technical glitch they experienced while writing the exam.

“This might have affected their performance. JAMB needs to improve on their performance and ensure that these technical glitches become a thing of the past,” he said.

Stephen Olatunbosun, a fashion designer, implicated negligence on the part of the candidates for the poor performance.

Olatunbosun said that many candidates did not take their studies seriously, with some even intentionally seeking to fail in order to pursue education abroad or in private universities.

He also added that some students preferred social media and other distractions over reading and learning, saying participation in academic matters was very  low.