Candidates frustrated as JAMB postpones mock examination

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has made a last minute postponement of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) mock exercise scheduled to take place on Saturday.

The examination, though not compulsory was designed to acquaint prospective candidates with the computer based testing (CBT) mode

According to NAN, students who reported early to these centres as early as 5am were angry when they learnt that the examination had been shifted.

A JAMB official later said the board was experiencing network problems – a reason the exam could not hold.

The official, who pleaded anonymity, said that a new date would be communicated to the prospective candidates.

Samuel Joel, a candidate, said he was unhappy that he could not write the examination after waiting for several hours.

“I do not really know the main reason for the postponement of the mock examination, but I just think that somewhere somehow, things did not just turn out fine,” Joel said.

“I am not happy going home now without doing the examination after waiting for about eight hours. Whatever it is that was responsible for the problem should be tackled as quickly as possible to regain our confidence.”

At the Christ the King College (CKC), Gwagwalada, FCT one of the mock centres, candidates had sat patiently waiting to write the test.

Some of the candidates that failed to come to the centre with their mock print out form found it difficult to identify their seat number.

Rachael Angulu, JAMB supervisor at the centrem however advised candidates to print out their mock form before coming to the centre next time.

Angulu said the centre was to host 236 candidates.

At the Digital Bridge Institute at Utako, another Centre, the students were very disappointed that the test was shelved.

Nwanze Okonkwo said that the centre was supposed to take 750 candidates.

A candidate, Sarah Adeniyi, said she arrived at the centre as early as 6:30am and as of 1:30 pm she had not been allowed into the premises.

“I am so tired and hungry. I rushed down here thinking they would keep to time. Look at us under the sun since morning,” she said.

“I just feel like forgetting about this whole mock of a thing.”

Another candidate, Dayo Lawal expressed disgust with the way the trial test was botched.

He hoped that JAMB would have gotten its act together before the real JAMB examination in May.