UTME 2012 hitch-free, says JAMB Registrar

Candidates for the UTME at Model Secondary School Maitama, Abuja Saturday. Photo: NAN

Abuja – (NAN) The 2012 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) conducted on Saturday was “extremely” successful in all the centres, the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, has said.

Ojerinde said this in Abuja while monitoring the 2012 UTME examination centres in Abuja.

He said that the use of the biometric data capturing machine recorded an “extraordinary” success when compared to the performance of the machines in the same examinations in 2011.

He said that reports from the 375 centres in Nigeria and the six foreign centres in Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon, Republic of Benin, U.K. and Saudi Arabia, indicated that the examination was peaceful and without any malpractice or security challenges.

Ojerinde said that the biometric capturing machine provided a solution to the three areas relating to examination fraud identified which included impersonation, lateness to hall and exam malpractice.

“The machine has helped us a great deal to solve the challenge of impersonation, late coming and absenteeism.

“A major hurdle for the board was dealing with the problem of impersonation and with the use of this machine; there was no case of impersonation recorded at the 2012 UTME.

“So, I would say that the use of the biometric capturing system was a success since it was able to address the major issues of impersonation and exam malpractice.’’

Ojerinde said that in centres that recorded system failure, an alternative provision, known as exempted method, was used to capture the students.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondents who monitored several centres report that there were no major challenges witnessed as the machine worked effectively.

At the Model Secondary School, Maitama, and the Government Secondary School, Tundun Wada, Wuse, the examination started on schedule at 9 a.m.

At the Government Secondary School, Area 10, Garki, the Principal, Mrs Uchenna Uchendu, said that 519 candidates were verified before the examination commenced.

However, at the Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3, many candidates were still on queue waiting to be verified as at 10 a.m.

Later, due to time constraints they were allowed into the examination hall without verification.

Mrs Amuche Madu, a supervisor in the centre told newsmen that the biometric machine at the centre was slow.

She, however, said that the verification would be done before the students left the hall to authenticate their presence in the exam hall.

Mrs Binta Dikko, an invigilator at GSS Wuse, said that the machine was not able to capture all the candidates and that they were compelled to use the exempted method.

Meanwhile, the President of the Albino Foundation Nigeria, Mr Jake Epele, who spoke to NAN at one the centres in GSS Garki, Area 10, commended the JAMB for making special provision for the albino candidates due to their sight challenge.

NAN reports that JAMB extended the examination period for the albinos by two hours to give them enough time to write the exam. (NAN)