JAMB 2024: How private schools extort UTME candidates — Oloyede

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has disclosed concerns about private secondary schools allegedly extorting money from Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates and mismanaging their data.

In an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Oloyede emphasized that each candidate should individually register for UTME with their own phone. However, some private schools reportedly charge exorbitant fees, mismanage candidates’ data, and even mix information together.

The registrar stated, “There are private secondary schools who are extorting the candidates, they will take 10,000, 20,000 and they say JAMB form whereas they pay just 6,000 or 7,000 as the case may be. They are mismanaging the data of the candidates.”

He stressed that UTME is not a school-based examination and urged candidates to register individually at authorized centers. Oloyede also highlighted the issue of special registration requests from certain institutions and clarified that JAMB does not conduct cohort registrations.

Last year, JAMB established 11 UTME centers specifically for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) to ensure equal opportunities for all candidates. Oloyede explained that the creation of these centers aimed to provide special attention and support for candidates with physical disabilities.

He acknowledged that candidates with disabilities face challenges accessing special attention in the 774 centers across the country. Therefore, the creation of centers closer to their place of residence is intended to ease the strain on them and ensure equal opportunities.

The JAMB Registrar confirmed that registration for the 2024 UTME began last week and is scheduled to close in the next four weeks.