From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
No fewer than 175, 000 candidates, on Saturday, participated in mock examination organized by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), ahead of the 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scheduled to start on May 6th.
In 2016, JAMB introduced UTME mock examinations. The aim was to use the opportunity to get candidates acquainted with the Computer Based Test (CBT), neutralize their fears and anxiety, and prepare them better for the examination proper.
The mock examinations was also an opportunity for JAMB to test-run its facilities and other innovations that might have been introduced to improve efficiency, effectiveness and credibility of the examination system.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede who monitored the exercise in some locations confirmed that mock examination held across different CBT centres in the country, and was successful.
He said: “I did sample inspections in Lagos and Ogun State, and the turnout was impressive. We are satisfied with the level of performance. In the process, a CBT Centre, Brain Point CBT Centre in Oko-Oba, Lagos State, that could not sustain their generator was automatically delisted. I gave instructions that the candidates in the Centre should be refunded their full money.
“We had assured CBT Centres of our support, and that was why we allowed the Centres to collect up to N1,000 instead on the earlier N700, so they can continue to give their best to the candidates. Some of the institutions especially tertiary institutions need to keep up and maintain their facilities because some of them are substandard.
“But we are happy with the general performance of the examination and we urge all students to make sure that they learn from the lesson of the mock examination which is to test their ability. In the two states I visited, the Centres worked very well. We only urged stakeholders to learn from the mock examination.
“175, 000 candidates sat for the examination. We limited the number because we do not want to do more than one session across the country.”
Meanwhile, a candidate, Sowande Moyinoluwa Hosanna, who sat for the mock examinations at the Rosa-Mystica Academy, Kubwa, Abuja, said the mock examination was hitch free for her.
She said: “The JAMB official engaged us first in biometrics, cross-checked our fingerprints with the one they have, and at exactly 8am we were filed into the hall. The computer timed us for two hours which was the period we engaged in writing the examination.
“I didn’t experience any technical challenges. I must confess that the mock examination boost my confidence to sit for the main examination.”