FEDERAL UNIVERSITY, DUTSIN-MA FETES JAMB MANAGEMENT

The Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Katsina State, Professor Hamisu Armayau Bichi was full of joy as he received the management of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) at his institution on Wednesday, 3rd January, 2024. This was contained in the address of the Vice Chancellor during the Registrar’s visit to the institution as part of his official visit to the State ahead of the commencement of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME)/Direct Entry (DE) registration exercise.

In his address to the management and staff of the State Office, the Registrar expressed appreciation to the staff for their diligence and commitment to duty. While charging them to continue to render selfless service to their fatherland, he promised his unwavering support for their welfare at all times. Meanwhile, he charged the State Coordinator to make use of the resources avaiable to the State Office to achieve his set targets. Earlier in his welcome address, the State Coordinator, Mr. Nasir Magashi, had urged the Board to consider the urgent repair of the office transformer to guarantee steady power supply to the facility.

In his reaction, the Registrar, conveyed the gracious approval of management for the repair of the transformer as requested. Other highlights of his visit were the inspection of the Board’s newly commissioned PTCs, where he had an interactive session with some candidates. In the same vein, the Registrar also took time out to visitb Al-Qalam University, Katsina, where he had meaningful interaction with the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nasiru Musa Yauri, of the University on how to take the institution to the next level.

2023 IN RETROSPECT: MAJOR ISSUES THAT DEFINED THE PAST YEAR

The year 2023 has come and gone. The activities of the Board in the preceding year will, no doubt, shaped its policy directions for years to come. The year 2023 could be considered very eventful for the Board as it strives to sustain its record of improved service delivery and innovate ways of birthing enduring legacies for upcoming generations of Nigerians. Some of these activities are captured below:

2023 JAMB POLICY MEETING ON ADMISSIONS

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) held its 2023 Policy Meeting on Admissions on Thursday, 21st July, 2022, to discuss critical issues pertaining to the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry (DE) applications, in addition to setting the tone for the 2022/2023 Admission exercise. At the meeting, stakeholders discussed critical issues emanating from the conduct of the 2023 UTME, sale of Direct Entry application documents in addition to setting the tone for the 2023/2024 placement of suitably – qualified candidates into the country’s tertiary institutions.

JAMB UNVEILED 1.9 BILLION MEGA CBT CENTRE IN KADUNA

Another noteworthy event was the commissioning of a 1000-seater capacity mega computer-based testing centre in Kaduna. The centre, said to be the largest in West Africa, comprised four units of 250-seater examination halls along with four units of holding halls with a combined capacity for sitting 1000 candidates at a go or 4,000 candidates per day. The erstwhile Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufa’i, accompanied by his successor, the newly-elected Governor then, Sen. Uba Sani, and the then Hon. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, commended the Board for the conception and execution of the N1.19b CBT centre situated along Tafawa Balewa Way, Kaduna, and hailed the Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, for his prudent management of resources while lauding the impact of the centre on the educational landscape of the State, prospective candidates from both Kaduna and its adjourning States.

MMESOMA FORGED RESULT SCANDAL

No account of the preceding year would be complete without mentioning the case of the 19-year old Ms. Mmesoma Ejikeme, who trended for the wrong reasons in the third quarter of that year. It would be recalled that Mmesoma had paraded 362 as her UTME score but later accepted the errors of her ways when confronted with overwhelming evidence proving that she had forged her UTME result, where she had actually scored 249! JAMB had subsequently sanctioned her appropriately to serve as deterrent to other prospective examination cheats.

ADVISORIES TO INSTITUTIONS, STAKEHOLDERS, OTHERS

To strengthen the system as well as provide adequate guidelines to institutions, stakeholders and candidates, the Board had rolled out a series of advisories via multiple channels of communication to ensure wide dissemination. Some of these are the Advisory for Registrars of Tertiary Institutions on the Operations of the Central Admissions Processing system(CAPS) as a Communication Platform. Others included: Advisory on Managing Programmes and Institutions for Regulatory Bodies; Advisory on Managing Programmes for Tertiary Institutions; Advisory on Reviewing New Programmes and Institutions for Registrars and Administrators. The Board also issued Advisory on Procedure for Processing of Indemnity Forms for Affiliated Institutions; Advisory on Procedure for Processing of (Degree) Affiliated Institutions on Internal Transfer of Candidates from one Programmes to another on CAPS; Advisory on Extending the Scope of Service for CBT Centres; Advisory on how to Handle Condonement of Undisclosed Illegal Institutional Admissions, Cessation of Illegal/Irregular Admissions; and Advisory on Foreign Inter-university Transfer for stalites (Not freshers); Advisory on Emergency Transfer of Returnee Nigerian Students into Nigerian Universities System in Time of Crisis, among others.

ESTABLISHMENT OF NIGERIA POST SECONDARY EDUCATION DATA SYSTEM (NIPEDS)

As part of efforts to curb fraud and unwholesome practices associated with acquisition of A’level qualifications, the Board had secured necessary approval for the setting up of NIPEDS. The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, had warned Direct Entry registration officers not to compromise on the new guidelines issued by the Board or involve themselves in any registration infractions that could jeopardise the future of the country while stating its resolve to curb the abuses associated with A’ level certificates.

JAMB-JEOG CONFERENCE

One other crucial milestone recorded in 2023 was the “1st National Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria” organised by the JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG). The conference, which has the theme: “Towards Increasing Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria” was aimed at boosting enrolment opportunities for persons with disabilities in the Nigerian tertiary education system. The foregoing were some of the highlights of the previous year. 2024 promises to be no less rewarding in terms of innovative and landmark solutions to emergent issues. As the Board unveils its programmes and activities for 2024, Nigerians should expect nothing other than the best from one of the foremost examination bodies in Africa. The months ahead promise to be an achievement-filled and eventful year.

KRIU VISITS JAMB, KANO

In a bid to foster cordial relationships with Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the management of the recently-approved Khalifa Rabiu Isyaku University (KRIU), Kano, has paid a courtesy visit to the Kano Zonal Office of the Board.

The four-man delegation from the institution was led by the Vice Chancellor and the erstwhile Registrar, National Examinations Council (NECO), Professor Abdulrasheed Garba.

In his address, Prof. Garba stated that the visit was anchored on the need to cultivate cordial relations between the institution and the Board. Prof. Garba, therefore, solicited for the support of the Board in the areas of admissions processing, operation of the Board’s Central Admission Processing System (CAPS), among others, to ensure a smooth take-off of the institution’s programmes.

In his words on the occasion, the Registrar of the institution, Mr Yusuf Datti expressed the readiness of the institution to adhere to the rules and regulations guiding the conduct of admissions as stipulated by the Board.

Responding, the Ag. Director, Kano Zonal Office, Mr Salim Kabir Galadanci, commended the Vice Chancellor and his team for the visit and enjoined them to shun underhand admissions adding that such could have far reaching consequences for illegally-admitted candidates.

Furthermore, Mr Galadanci, urged the team to be wary of any other unwholesome tendencies that could besmirch the good name of the institution.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: KEY TO EFFICIENT SERVICE DELIVERY – AKINTOLA

A call has gone to the staff of the Ibadan Zonal Office, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), to imbibe the culture of effective communication for quality service delivery.

This was contained in the address of Mr. Olugbenga Akintola, the Ag. Director, Ibadan Zonal Office, at an interactive session with members of staff of the office and some critical stakeholders ahead of the 2024 UTME/DE registration exercise in his office on Tuesday, 2nd January, 2024.

Akintola implored all stakeholders to always make use of the support system and other communication channels instituted by the Board to resolve all identified problems provided they are clearly stated and reported on time. In his words, “Effective communication is the key to problem solving and prompt service delivery. It promotes transparency and is crucial to the continued growth of the Board.”

Furthermore, he enjoined all accredited registration officers for the forthcoming 2024 registration exercise, to always pay attention to details, particularly those sensitive issues, which might generate future problems for candidates. While highlighting such critical issues as biometric verification problem, data mismatch and ambiguity with respect to candidates’ biodata, the Director stressed the need for clear and concise reportage of issues in order to promptly provide practical solutions to them. He, therefore, charged the staff to exhibit sound professional conduct and commitment as required of them at all times.

In his admonition to accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centresunder the zone, the Directorcharged their proprietors to steer clear of unwholesome practices that might negatively impact their good standing with the Board.

JAMB COUNSELS CANDIDATES ON TICKETING, RETRIEVAL OF LOST PROFILE

Ahead of the upcoming 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) registration exercise, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released guidelines to candidates on ticketing and retrieval of loss profile.

The guidelines were contained in an advisory issued by the Board to candidates, clients and the public urging them to take advantage of its seamless ticketing platform to resolve their challenges seamlessly.

According to the advisory, the ticketing platform is a free electronic complaint registering platform that not only enables complaints to be easily addressed but also tracked. It also comes with a centralised dashboard for the prioritisation of urgent cases, thereby, allowing complex issues to be resolved promptly.

To access the ticketing platform to register complaints, candidates or complainants are expected to create their support tickets at https://www.jamb.gov.ng by selecting “Quicklinks”, and then” Ticket/Support” with their registered e-mail address with the Board. They are to provide their phone numbers as well as the nature of the complaints, and select a complaint area on a drop-down to summarise their complaints.

The Board advised complainants to attach supporting documents (if available) to properly articulate their complaint(s) for prompt attention and documentation.

The advisory further stated that for complaints relating to NIN (e.g., a candidate sends a message to 55019 or 66019 to create a profile but does not receive any response or receives wrong data), the complainants follow the same process on theticketing platform and click on 2024 NIN-related issues, then select the related topic on the drop-down. As for the retrieval of a lost Profile Code, candidates are to send “RESEND” from the same mobile number they use to initiate the registration process with the Board to 55019 or 66019 as a text message.

To reset lost or forgotten profiles, candidates are expected to send “PASSWORD “on their registered cell phone number space and the email address as a text message to 55019 or 66019.

CANDIDATES WITH BIOMETRIC CHALLENGES TO REGISTER, SIT EXAM IN ABUJA

…Says no Biometrics, no Examination

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced that candidates who experienced biometric challenges at the point of their 2024 UTME registration, would complete their registration formalities as well as sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME) at its National Headquarters, Abuja. The Board reiterated its stance of

“No Biometrics, No Examination” for all candidates desirous of taking the 2024 UTME. All candidates with biometric challenges would take their examination on the last day of the natonal examination calendar. No CBT centre is permited to register such candidates as the system would not permit or process any examination for unverified candidates.