It is no longer news that this year's
JAMB Examination is very stressful and time consuming unlike previous years. So
many persons, especially prospective candidates of the examination are totally disillusioned
with the outcome of the newly introduced registration pattern.
This
new system which was believed to make registration for the 2017 UTME very easy
has unfortunately made the exercise cumbersome and time consuming. This has
caused a hullabaloo among prospective candidates of the examination and has
also pushed them out of their comfort and enduring zone to the streets where
they could adequately make their grievances known.
You might not be aware
that no fewer than 1,000 prospective candidates of the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board on Wednesday took to the streets of Calabar to protest poor
internet services affecting their registration processes for the forthcoming
examination.
The candidates, who
started their protest at about 7:am from the JAMB office along Marian Road,
marched through Barracks Road and the Millennium Park before returning to the
JAMB office.
The candidates were
chanting solidarity songs and holding leaves in their hands while security
personnel were seen following the protesters to ensure that there was no
destruction of properties.
The candidates who
blocked the Mary Slessor Roundabout, one lane on Marian Road just opposite the
JAMB office and the Barracks Road by Marian, appealed that something be done
about the rigorous nature of the registration exercise.
One of the candidates,
Collins Nwanjei, lamented that he had not been able to get his Personal
Identity Number since March 20 when JAMB commenced registration.
Another protester
explained that the new process introduced by JAMB was too cumbersome and frustrating,
adding that even the designated banks for the registration process are
incompetent. He further advised JAMB not to continue with such process in
subsequent years.
Read his words below:
To register, you first of all create a profile with JAMB with an e-mail address. Then JAMB will send a confirmation to the e-mail address and you now click on the link of that confirmation and it will send you to JAMB portal and from there, you create a profile, which you will print out and do a remittal, which you will take to the bank to pay N700.
You make this payment alongside the N5, 500 at the bank for the JAMB form. So the total is N6, 200. You now bring that remittal back to JAMB office for registration. You can see how crazy the crowd is here. It is the same thing when you go to the bank. The process is too cumbersome and stressful. We beg them to make it easier for us.
For the bank to even sort out your pin is something else. I have been trying for weeks, yet I have not been able to complete the process.
We are paying cyber café charges, transportation up and down and sundry charges here and there, and most times, we do not even succeed. It is a big problem for us and something should be done about it as soon as possible.
I will advise that this kind of process should be discontinued in the next JAMB registration.